Vacation
by MikariStar
Summary: A collection of BowserxPeach fluffy stories.
1. I'm not a Penguin

As you might have noticed, I'm revising all my stories and I have decided to delete some of them for various reasons. However, I won't delete the BowserxPeach stories, I will simply arrange them all into a single collection so don't be alarmed if things are being moved around. Only the chaptered stories will be posted outside of this collection and all the oneshots will be here.

Vacation: A collection of BowserxPeach fluffy short stories. Many of these stories were in some way inspired by Razzi and others were requested by reviewers.

Vacation

Event 01: I'm Not A Penguin

The koopalings cheerfully played in the snow throwing snow balls at each other in an all out icy war. Kamek had been forced to join as the referee for the two teams consisting of four koopalings each. At least that's what he was told, but he was beginning to think that they only wanted him to serve as a moving target for their frozen projectiles.

A little further away from the action, Peach observed a lonely penguin egg that was left in the snowy fields. "I wonder where its parents are?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen any penguins around here." Penguins or no penguins, it made no difference to Bowser as long as Peach was with him.

She gently picked up the egg contemplating it as if it were a baby, which in a way it was. "Poor dear, left here all alone. We'll take care of you until your parents return."

"We're babysitting the egg?"

"Yes, now hold on to it and keep it warm."

Bowser looked at Peach, then at the egg, then back at Peach. "Why do I have t do it?"

"Because you're warm."

"But... you're better at this. Besides, why can't we just leave it here? I'm sure the parents will come back for it."

"Not soon enough, the egg will be frozen by then and what makes you think I'm better at this? You have more body heat than me."

"Women are better at taking care of babies."

"It's the male penguin who keeps he egg warm."

"I'm not a penguin!"

Peach shook her head. Sometimes Bowser could be a bit stubborn but he loved her and one way or another she always got her way. "Hug me..."

"What?"

"I'll hold the egg, you can hug me and keep us both warm." Peach smiled.

Bowser returned the smile. "Works for me!"

End of Event 01

Disclaimer, I don't own the Mario games.

xoxox xox xoxox

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	2. Sinking Feeling

Vacation

Event 02: Sinking Feeling

It had finally started to sink in for Peach, with who she was on vacation with. If anything, it made her happy, she had expected it to feel odd but she was joyful.

The koopalings were currently in another area of the private water park. Bowser had made sure he and Peach had plenty of space for themselves with no interruptions. While the koopalings splashed around and played in a large pool, Kamek sat at the edge of the pool reading a book under a big umbrella. Sadly his book was soaked and he was beginning to think that the accidental splashes were not accidental at all. But Bowser needed someone to keep an eye on the koopalings so he could have same time alone with Peach and Kamek couldn't refuse.

It seemed that Peach and Bowser had the afternoon to themselves. They haven't had a lot of alone time so far in their vacation since the koopalings wanted to tag along. Of course Peach was all too happy to agree. She didn't have the heart to see them disappointed, plus she had fun playing with them. She was happy that they had come, though a little time alone with her beloved would be nice too. If only he hasn't disappeared.

Peach looked around the area surrounding the pool. She didn't see him floating in the pool and didn't bother to lower her gaze enough to catch sight of him at the bottom of the deep pool. The princess had learned to swim at a young age and there was a swimming pool in her castle. Having a deep pool with plenty of room to swim underwater was good, unless the one attempting to swim was a koopa with very heavy shell.

"Where did he go?" She was certain that he wouldn't miss this. He was practically jumping with joy when she went to the change room and now that she was out and ready to go for a swim he had disappeared. Suddenly she noticed frantic splashing in the water and Bowser's popping out of the water at the edge to the pool. "Bowser! Are you alright?"

"Yes... fine..." He took a moment to catch his breath only to lose it again soon after. "You look beautiful!"

Peach smiled. "Thank you," she paused, something was different. What was it? She wasn't sure, it was hard to see with most of him under water. She caught just a hint of his bare back. Wait, his back? "Where's your shell?"

"Um... It's..." Why was he blushing so much? "In the bottom of the pool..."

Peach hasn't laughed so hard in a long time.

End of Event 02

Disclaimer, I don't own the Mario games. 


	3. Roasted Apples

Vacation

Event 03: Roasted Apples

After much walking, hiking and exhaustion, Bowser had finally made it to the other side of Yoshi's island. Peach was with him of course, except she was still full of energy. Now they would have a romantic picnic dinner under the stars. Good, because he was starving but he tried to keep his stomach quiet. He wanted the evening to be perfect for Peach. The only problem was that the basket with their food had banished into thin air.

"Is something wrong?" Peach asked after seeing Bowser searching for something.

"Nothing, everything is perfect... Did you move the basket?" He knew he had it a second ago. He set it down for a short moment then it was gone.

"I didn't move it... where did it go?"

"No idea..." Great now their evening was ruined. Surely Peach was hungry too. They couldn't stay any longer without feeling uncomfortable from hunger and he didn't want to go back yet.

There was some rustling in the bushes. They silently approached, slowly and quietly, until suddenly a Yoshi jumped out with his head stuck in the picnic basket. "It's alright, stay still." Peach's voice was calming so it wasn't too hard to get the basket ff.

"Yoshi!" With that said, the little green dinosaur ran off with a full stomach, or as full as a Yoshi can get.

"Our picnic... our romantic evening... ruined by that Yoshi." Bowser was disappointed. He could shoot a fireball at the offending thief, but Peach wouldn't like that so he didn't.

"It's alright, this food must have been rare for him. But look, there's apples all around. We can build a fire and roast them."

Peach, beautiful, brilliant Peach. Bowser felt like the happiest and luckiest being alive. "Count me in!" It was better this way after all, maybe even more romantic.

End of Event 03

Disclaimer, I don't own the Mario games. 


	4. One Question

Vacation

Event 04: One Question

"It's been great so far. I took a lot of pictures and some videos. I'll show you when I go back." Peach was currently talking to Daisy on her cell phone. "We're going on a date soon, to see the sights and go somewhere romantic. He hasn't told me where but I can't wait! Here he comes."

"Go have fun and tell me about it later. Before you hang up I only have one question..." Daisy's voice sounded mischievous but how much mischief could she cause over the phone?

"What is it?"

"What does Bowser wear under his shell?"

"Pardon?"

"Anything at all? If yes what color?"

Peach's face turned multiple shades of red and Bowser gave her a confused look. Why was his beloved Peachy blushing so much? He smiled proudly. Of course, it had to be that she was happy to see him and looking forward to a day of romance together.

"Peach..." Now Daisy spoke between laughs. "I was only kidding, but I really I wish I could see your face right now!"

End of Event 04

Disclaimer, I don't own the Mario games. Story 04 was inspired by reviews from Razzi and Deanna625. 


	5. Safari

Vacation

Event 05: Safari

Peach wondered if the reason why they had not seen any lions was due to luck though she couldn't decide if it was good or bad, or because the wise felines were hiding from Bowser. Of course he wouldn't want Peach to be in any danger, and she knew that. In fact, she felt so very safe she actually ventured into the jungle this time. Her past, so called, safari vacations have involved visiting a zoo and learning about the jungle environment, not actually going to the jungle. This was a real safari and she had the Koopa King to make sure she didn't get eaten.

"I guess all the lions are feeling shy today." Peach smiled at Bowser, who seemed quite content holding her pink umbrella over her head to protect her from the sun. He offered to carry it, along with all her other safari equipment, and was currently walking beside his princess with one hand on hers and the other holding the umbrella. Peach almost giggled at the sight of Bowser holding a pink umbrella, as the mischievous voice in her head reminded her that she could get him to do pretty much anything.

"Good, no one will bother us then." Just as Bowser was about to hug his beloved princess and get all romantic, a roar was heard.

"This way!" Peach followed the sounds, hoping to see a wild lion. She heard they were somehow different from the lions in the zoo. She felt so safe with Bowser that she didn't even register the fact that she was running towards a ferocious feline instead of away from it as any sane person would do.

Bowser followed Peach closely, ready to roast any danger that came her way. Being able to breathe fire did have its advantages.

They stopped at the base of a large rock. On top of that rock stood a majestic lion, looking at his strange visitors unsure if they should be trusted or even allowed to be in his territory. A small lion cub curiously sneaked out of a cave near the base of the large rock. She walked over to Peach and Bowser, wanting to take a closer look at the strangers. The lion looked ready to pounce on them if they laid a finger on the cub.

"It's ok, we'll leave now." Peach told the lion, though she knew he probably wouldn't understand her words. Her actions he did understand though, as Peach led Bowser away, while a lioness carried the cub back inside.

xoxox xox xoxox

"That was amazing, seeing a family of lions living in the wild!" Peach was certainly exited over the event. She didn't have a chance to take a picture since she had to leave before the protective lions jumped on them to defend their cub, but she would always remember the experience of seeing wild lions so close.

"You're more amazing," as Bowser was getting ready for a romantic campfire dinner under the stars with Peach, the princess caught a hint of movement in the tall grass.

Bowser quietly approached. If some wild animal was stalking Peach, it would regret it. Then a relatively small animal he didn't recognize jumped away from him and ran past Peach.

"Wait little one, don't run away!" The unknown animal looked at Peach curiously. The princess got some cookies from her backpack and slowly approached.

"Peach, what if it bites you?" Bowser half complained to Peach, while warning the creature with his glare that it better not try to bite his love.

"Relax, I'm pretty sure she's harmless." Peach held out the cookies for the little animal to take.

The unknown white and yellow animal took the cookies with her paws and sniffed them. She ate them and her green eyes showed how much she liked the food she was given.

"Would you like some more?" Peach placed the rest of the cookies in the animal's paws, making sure to take away the bag so she wouldn't try to chew on it, though she seemed to be a smart creature.

The white and yellow animal made a sound that Peach interpreted as thanks then hopped away, moving in a similar way to a kangaroo but she also looked like some kind of rabbit or hare.

"What was that?" Bowser had never seen such an animal before.

"I'm not sure but it was cute." Peach smiled. Little did she know, that today was that spring hare's birthday...

End of Event 05

Happy Birthday Razzi! :D Disclaimer, I don't own the Mario games, Peach or Bowser and I don't own Lion King or its characters. They were supposed to be Simba, Nala and Kiora, cookies for you if you knew. I also do not own Razzi, the spring hare; she belongs to Razzi, the author and artist (ebtwisty9). 


	6. Mushroom Fairy

Vacation

Event 06: Mushroom Fairy Poetry

She flew next to the royal room,  
The window opens, zoom, zoom!  
Shining wings and mushroom hat,  
Fairies must hide, don't forget that!

Once again she peeked and watched,  
Her little mushroom head she scratched.  
So sad today the princess was.

She frowned and felt her heart in pain.  
She tried her magic, all in vain;  
Sadness could not be easily slain.

She flew away, shiny and small,  
And distracted crashed into a wall.  
No wall was this, oh, no, oh no!  
A flying thing she did not know!

A face so big, so large, so strong,  
In skies where it did not belong,  
A mocking clown, flying about,  
Imprinted there, she heard a shout.

A cry for help filled with joy,  
Royal sadness was destroyed.  
Pulling away the fairy saw,  
A hidden smile, hand in claw.

End of Event 06

This a little story in poem form I wrote as a gift for Razzi, I hope this cheers you up! For the Mushroom fairy just picture Tinkerbell with a mushroom hat. XD Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games. 


	7. Secret Autograph

Vacation

Event 07: Secret Autograph

It was a secret communication, like in a spy movie. "May I have your autograph?" It wouldn't be the first time someone asked Peach for her autograph, nor the first time a koopa asked. It was the kind of sign she wouldn't have seen if she wasn't looking for it.

Peach received the pen and picture, that particular picture of Peach playing tennis was all over the internet lately. "To whom shall I sign it?" She knew the koopa must have been sent to find her, and that the autograph was a way of secret communication that anyone could hear, and only they could understand.

"To Keres and Skyri, from the adventurous princess Peach..."

Peach signed the autograph confirming her agreement. Later that day she would be kidnapped by Bowser again.

End of Event 07

Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games. Keres and Skyri are the same two OC koopas that appear on many of my stories. :) 


	8. Sneak Away

Vacation

Event 08: Sneak Away

"No problem, have fun in your adventure!" Daisy was to return to Sarasaland, to check on how things were going. Since it had been a while since Peach visited Sarasaland, she would be coming along. No one at Sarasaland was told about Peach's visit or Daisy's return, so they would not be expecting them. Toadsworth would be helpful to the plan without knowing it, by keeping the Mario brothers busy with the final preparations for the Mushroom Day Parade; the stage was set and everything was in place.

Sneaking away among the crowds of tourists and residents of Toad Town, was easy for Peach. The driver was waiting to take the princesses to the air port. Daisy took a short cut and arrived first. "Peach decided to stay and help with the parade."

"I thought you would be staying as well Princess Daisy," It made no sense to the mushroom driver that Daisy would leave a few days away from the parade, and miraculously return on time to attend. It was a well known fact that parades happened to be one of her favorite events.

"I'll be back on time," Daisy replied from the back of the limousine. Right on cue, the Mario brothers appeared. "We'll see you tomorrow, bye!" We was to signify that Peach was there, even if she wasn't. Once the Mario brothers were convinced that they 'saw' Peach and Daisy leave, Daisy instructed the driver to take her to the airport before Mario and Luigi could reach the limo. The plumbers found this odd, but didn't give it too much thought; they were probably just short on time.

Just as planned, mid way to the airport, Daisy changed her mind and decided to stay. She explored the edge of the Mushroom Kingdom and gave the driver some time off, setting up a time for him to pick her up later. A little bribe and his silence was bought. He didn't know what this was about, though his mind produced many theories about Daisy's possible motifs for arranging things to be left alone for the afternoon. If any rumors popped up they be about Daisy and the nosy press that usually gathered for the parade would be kept busy with Daisy. They would have no clue that this was all to hide Peach's secret meeting with Bowser, to arrange their next secret vacation.

End of Event 08

Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters. 


	9. Mistletoe on Christmas Eve

Vacation

Event 09: Mistletoe on Christmas Eve

Pink and green, fade out, fade in,  
In a place where in this eve,  
She had never before been.

Lights and decorations,  
Celebrated the occasion:  
Spending Christmas with his obsession.

Mischief was not rare today,  
As the children came to play,  
For the plan to work they prayed.

Of the smallest, a request,  
His siblings put him to the test,  
Climbing the tree was his quest.

From above he saw it all,  
And he heard his siblings call,  
Holding on, hoping not to fall.

He lowered the improvised fishing rod,  
He tried his best against all odds,  
As he siblings approved with a nod.

The main guest was so surprised.  
It was the gift the king most prized.  
Mistletoe floated above,  
And their world was full of love.

End of Event 09

The story behind the poem on Event 09 is that Peach and Bowser are decorating a pink and green tree, Junior climbs it and holds mistletoe above them, you know what happens next. This is my Christmas gift for Razzi and all the BxP fans. Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games and characters. 


	10. Shopping

Vacation

Event 10: Shopping

"Dodo! Dodo!" The voice echoed in the large structure despite the constant murmur of the crowd. "Hurry up, Dodo!" Valentina stomped her feet and threw a tantrum, as a mountain of bags and boxes approached. "I don't have all day!"

A tail made of black feathers with red at the tips, could be seen sticking out from under the mountain of bags and boxes. That, and the fact that it was moving, were the only signs that there was a living being under it.

Peach and Valentina recognized each other right away. "You!" Valentina pointed in surprise. The suspense hung in the air, and Peach wondered if Valentina intended to pick a fight. Peach helped expose Valentina's lies at Nimbus Land, and chase her out of the palace, restoring the crown to the rightful king and queen. However, Valentina's reaction was not what Peach expected. "Did you do something with your hair?"

Peach blinked at the question. It was very unexpected... "It has grown a little longer..."

"Oh..." Valentina patted the bird on her head, its wings were now just below her shoulders, "mine too." Valentina glanced at Dodo, he had put down the many bags and boxes while she was distracted. "Pick up those things, Dodo! Stop being such a slow poke, I still have more stores to visit!" Valentina intended to give Booster's credit card a good work out. "There are some nice new shoes at Kalsado's shop, you should check them out."

"New shoes, just what I need! Let's go!" Wendy squealed. Valentina continued her shopping spree and Wendy hastily led Peach towards the shoe store.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Princess Wendy and Princess Peach! Welcome, welcome!" Kalsado, a koopa troopa wearing fancy shoes and an orange shell, welcomed them. The shop had many shoes on display, similar to a museum. The walls were decorated with paintings of shoes, and even the chairs were shaped like shoes.

"What new things did you get?" Wendy loved to buy a new pair of shoes as often as possible.

xoxox xox xoxox

After Wendy was satisfied with her new shoes, they went on to shop for ribbons, then jewelry. Peach's shopping sprees with Wendy had become more frequent lately, at Wendy's request. Peach observed that it was more like a girls' day out then a mother-daughter shopping trip. That was the way they both liked it, even if technically, Peach was now Wendy's official step-mother.

End of Event 10

Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters. 


	11. Inspiration for Vacations

Vacation

Event 11: Inspiration for Vacations

He was so focused on the story, he did not notice her peeking at the screen until she scolded him. "Bowser! What exactly are you reading?"

He did not understand why she sounded so upset. Reading fluff about himself and Peach was something Bowser had taken a liking to do quite often lately, and Peach already knew about it. The stories gave Bowser date ideas, and he needed an idea for his next vacation with Peach. "Reading fluff about us."

"Fluff? Only fluff?" She read over the sentence that had given her the wrong impression again and realized that he was in fact reading fluff and not a lemon. "Oh..."

He looking at his beloved curiously, "You mean that?" He pointed at the word on the screen. "It's a typo..."

"Yes, I see," of course, of course, it was only a typo and nothing more. That girl, Mikari Star, was on the spellchecker's bad side, so it would seem... An error in the word stop would change it to strip, so of course one tiny mistake in the word understand would change it to undress. That poor girl, stalked by the evil typos of doom!

End of Event 11

Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters. Hey, at least I caught the typo, okay? Plus I've been double checking all my stories recently in case there's something I missed. XD 


	12. The Third Wheel

Vacation

Event 12: The Third Wheel

I rush through the tunnel hoping not to trip, the lights were off and for the life of me I couldn't find the switch. Either way I'm too late to waste my time searching. I see a bit of dim light, it's reflecting off something white... What a big surprise!

I find myself face to face with none other than princess Peach. Well, at least I know I didn't miss the wedding, but I also know that I took a wrong turn, this it the way for Peach's entrance, not the way to secretly sneak into the audience where I should be.

"Could you help me?" Peach asks.

I nod, right away, wondering what she needs, "sure."

"This dress is very heavy," Peach points to the long trail of white jeweled fabric attached to the back of the long skirt. "I can't walk..." She sounds a little embarrassed by her predicament, but I see where it's coming from. Peach's dress is very elaborate, with layer upon layer of white, countless jewels, there are even jewels on her hair, and her crown looks heavier than usual with the added gem.

"No problem!" I try to help Peach untangle the long piece of fabric. She spins around to help the process, and when it's all done I notice just how ridiculously long the tail of the dress is.

"It wasn't my idea," Peach explained. I thought so; no woman would subject herself to dragging such a huge tail of fabric around.

"Makes me wonder who's idea it was," we both laugh, she knows that's my way of saying who ever designed this was insane. The rest of the dress is gorgeous, but this is too much.

"Let's get going shall we? I don't want to keep everyone waiting any more." I'm sure Peach has good reason to hurry, Bowser must be getting impatient.

xoxox xox xoxox

We arrive at the church, to find Kamek on a stage giving a speech. The church is huge and there's a lot of white. Why is there such a huge tunnel connected to a church anyway? I wouldn't put it past Bowser to have it built just to make sure Peach has a path all to herself and there is no reason why she shouldn't make it.

Kamek was stretching the speech to buy some time for Peach to arrive. Bowser noticed Peach right away and by some miracle sees me standing near by helping her with the dress. I think my dear cousin is no longer mad at me for being late, if I am late because I'm helping Peach. Did I tell you? Bowser and I are cousins by marriage, that is to say I have a cousin who married his cousin, or something like that. Quite frankly I can't think of anything but my current situation right now...

Just imagine; walking down the isle when you know you're too grown up to be a flower girl, but you just have to be there. Imagine the strange stares directed at the ridiculously long gown falling on you, because the tail of fabric and jewels is too heavy for the princess to drag and you have to help carry it. I know the stares are for the dress, but I feel so silly, yet Peach in is her own happy little world.

The church is packed from wall to wall, and it's huge. Looks like Kamek is going to be the priest, no surprise, magikoopa are usually the ones to get people married in the Koopa Kingdom. That's when I realize I'm still standing there holding the dress at the base of a dozen steps, while Peach has already reached the top, because the dress is that long. Furthermore I'm the only one standing here, and it feels awkward.

I stand to the side next to the maids. Daisy, the maid of honor noticed my predicament and giggled, then focused on the wedding's main activity.

The actual ceremony went by quickly. The coronation was already held, Peach also wanted a classic ceremony and Bowser is all too happy to marry her as many times as she wants. The "I do"s are exchanged and the crowd goes wild at the kiss, everyone cheers and yells and boy are they ever loud, and so am I.

Instead of navigating the sea of guests on their way out and being bombarded with rice balls, unless the guests already ate them, because Bowser misinterpreted the rice tradition with the guests eating rice balls and it might have been too late to change it, instead of that, they go out a back door. How many churches have back doors? Again, I wouldn't put it past Bowser to have it built just for the occasion. I can think of only two, one in Mineral Town and another in Hyrule, now three counting this one.

I notice Peach slow down when the tail of the dress is completely stretched and she gives me a 'help me please!' look. I rush to pick up the dress and help her walk out of the church though the back door.

There is an onion shaped carriage waiting outside. I know for a fact it was supposed to be a peach, but things get mixed up and a certain groom didn't want the wedding to be delayed... At least Peach was amused by the mistake so it was nothing too bad.

After Peach and Bowser are inside the carriage, I try to get Peach's dress inside. It really is too long; so long in fact it might take up half the space in the carriage. Unfortunately I trip on the little step to get into the carriage and fall inside.

Bowser is getting impatient. "I want to leave now, Jagger let's go!" The driver orders the white unicorns to move and they gallop away.

"I'm still here!" I managed to get the dress into the carriage, but I also got myself inside in the process.

"That's okay, you can come along," Peach is certainly cheerful today.

"No!" Bowser isn't too happy about my presence though. "You're supposed to be back home babysitting the koopalings and making sure they don't follow us. You're not supposed to be here playing the third wheel!" And Peach bursts out in a fit of laugher.

End of Event 12

Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or Harvest Moon (Mineral Town) or Legend of Zelda (Hyrule) or Shrek (onion carriage). This is based on a dream I had a long time ago, oh yes I dream in BxP. 


	13. Soul Painting

Another odd BowserxPeach story based on a dream.

Vacation

Event 13: Soul Painting

Playing videogames, it was something many people enjoyed doing during vacation, or all the time. Right now Peach felt like she was inside a videogame. She wondered if Mario felt this way all the time, she wondered if she should be glad he didn't stop her or upset he didn't help accomplish the goal hoping that she would change her mind half way there.

It's not like she was in any danger, the apologetic mushroom mage assured her. Should she lose her life inside an enchanted painting, she would merely be thrown out of it without a scratch. It had happened when she lowered her guard, before the Mario brothers arrived. She thought she was dead but when she opened her eyes she was standing in front of the painting as if she had never been inside it.

Then the Mario brothers arrived and there was an argument about leaving Bowser as he was. Maybe even building a new mushroom castle and sealing the old one. But Peach wouldn't have it, she was truly in no danger, hence why she was not stopped, but what she was doing was wrong, perhaps even traitorous so she was not assisted. "She'll come to her senses..." Toadsworth had faith in that as he stood in line next to the Mario brothers and Toad.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it was an accident, I'm sorry!" The mushroom boy with a yellow hat over his blue mushroom with black dots; apologized over and over, occasionally tripping over his long magikoopa style blue robes, as he followed Peach from painting to painting, but not into the paintings.

"It's alright, I'll fix it," Peach assured him, and she would. She would visit the variety of different little worlds in the paintings and accomplish the same mission over and over again, to find Bowser. While his body remained in a coma, his very soul had shattered and was trapped in the paintings. Peach would brave the strange worlds in the paintings and challenging landscape until she found all the pieces.

Those pieces of his soul were not ghost-like and empty, but a small projection of one of the many sides of Bowser, appearing in his full shape inside the paintings, but when Peach came out, she only held a coin with Bowser's face engraved on it. She had to find them all.

The current of the sea was rising, the storm was harsh inside that painting, but even if the rain kept harshly falling on her, Peach knew she would be dry when she came out and without a hair out of place. She saw a pipe and headed towards it but the sea level rose and she knew she would be out of the game if she was caught by the waves.

The wind continued to howl and Peach saw another pipe. She had to get there, she had to see Bowser. She jumped into the pipe and it led her to an underground room. There was another pipe connecting to the room that Peach had a feeling led to Bowser's castle, or the representation of his castle in the world of the paintings. But she didn't need to go that far, Bowser came, that portion of him was also looking for her.

"Bowser!" They hugged; it was part of the process of letting the magical game know the heroine had reached her goal. Seeing Bowser from afar wasn't enough to earn another coin. She had to touch him and though a simple handshake would be just as effective, she was so happy to come one step closer to saving Bowser, that Peach always gave him a hug. This time, it was Peach's turn to do the rescuing.

End of Event 13

Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters. 


	14. Healing Cuddles

Vacation

Event 14: Healing Cuddles

When Peach started to cross the border between asleep and awake, the first thing she noticed was that her pillow was warm and surprisingly soft. But what was more surprising was that her pillow had a heart beat, fast but steady.

Peach opened her sapphire eyes and saw that her pillow was actually Bowser, "Bowser! What are you...? How did I...?" Her question of 'what are you doing here?' changed to 'how did I get here?' when Peach realized she was not in her room. She left the questions unfinished in favor of trying to retrieve the answers from her own memories.

Yesterday Peach had a cold and because of that, when Bowser came to take her away she was too out of it to say anything. She vaguely remembered being held, cuddling something warm, someone caressing her hair.

"Feeling better?" Bowser asked.

Peach nodded, she had to admit she was feeling a lot better today. She was just sleepy because she had not had a good night's sleep for days until yesterday, but it was early and she still needed a little more sleep.

"Are you still tired?" Bowser asked, reading her sleepy expression easily.

"Yes..." a small silent pause passed.

"...do you want me to leave?" Bowser enjoyed sleeping with Peach, protecting her and keeping her warm, but he didn't want to bother her if she wanted to continue resting alone.

Peach nodded, but laid her head on Bowser's chest again. "Five more minutes... Five minutes then you have to let me rest by myself..." Peach dozed off, and when the five minutes were up, Bowser didn't wake her up.

End of Event 14

Event 14 was requested by Rock Raider, the theme was Peach and Bowser in a bed and innocent cuddles. Disclaimer, I don't own Bowser, Peach or the Mario games. 


	15. Secret

Event 15 is a special AU that takes place on Earth.

Vacation

Event 15: Secret

She wasn't sure how many times she stayed in the office working late that month; she had given up counting and simply awaited her check full of overtime. Not that her job truly required that much overtime. She did secretary work; she also acted as a receptionist to the curious members of the press, science students and general public. She organized files and answered the phone, and quite frankly, her job for the day could easily be done in eight hours or less.

But she always stayed, she always prolonged her work. She was beautiful, some would say beautiful enough to easily be an actress or model, and thus they didn't question her. The majority of the employees who worked there were men and they liked glancing at the pretty young woman in pink when they hit a wall in their investigation and needed to take a short break. She didn't like it, but as long as no one crossed the line, she wouldn't complain.

Peach was more than just a pretty face, she was smart but sadly many times people didn't look past that pretty face. She knew that she brought that upon herself, working slowing and assuring her boss she was willing let her work overtime if need be. It wasn't that she desperately needed the money; her reasons to pretend her work was not done were different from what anyone might ever imagine.

Peach was the mayor's adopted daughter. The couple was unable to have children and immediately became attached to the pretty little toddler with golden hair and sapphire eyes. She was different from the other children in the orphanage; she almost looked like a long lost princess from a distant land. They never knew how true that was.

Following the collapse of the Mushroom World, Peach, still a baby, was sent to Earth by means of magic, since all other connections between the two worlds did not work. The amount of energy needed made it nearly impossible to accomplish, but with the collaboration of the entire kingdom, little Peach was sent away, and that was their last act of loyalty and love towards the royal family before they all perished when their world sunk out of existence.

A story book, in truth a history book, was shipped along with the baby in her little pink basket. Peach treasured that book as soon as she was old enough to read, and even before that. It was the only thing she had left of her biological family, though her adoptive parents were very kind.

It was Peach who helped her father advance in his political career. She was a natural at understanding people and helping them. Her adoptive parents always said she was like a princess in many ways.

When the mayor inaugurated the scientific research center, his wife and Peach were there. They got a tour along with a few other people, and that's how it all started. What the press was buzzing about was a strange alien creature found years ago, interestingly around the same time the mysterious baby girl with the name Peach written on a ribbon was found. When Peach saw the being, she knew she had to see him again, and thus she asked for a job there to make sneaking past security easier, deep into the restricted laboratory research levels.

The way Peach heard the story, the alien being, a strange cross of dragon and turtle, could speak and understand things as well as a human. It all got out of hand when they treated him too much like an experiment; the being was prideful and wanted freedom. At that point they stopped calling him smart and civilized and started calling him dangerous.

Peach readjusted the pink ribbon on her hair. The golden letters that spelled out her name as well as the ends of the ribbon were worn out by time, but she had no intentions of replacing it. The research center had closed for the night, and the last scientist had already gone home. That was when she put to use the keys, cards and passwords she had obtain simply by being pretty and pretending to be interested. She didn't like it, but things didn't get out of hand and she simply had to find a way to see him regularly, the fire breathing turtle dragon that was once called a genius and was now called a monster.

She made her way past secure doors and into the technical area to shut off the cameras. If nothing was out of the ordinary, then no one would think to check the footage anyway. She then went past even heavier securities to the research area were the dragon turtle was kept. She called him Bowser, like the prince of a neighboring kingdom in her book. The same book where there was a princess called Peach. Those two characters were said to have been saved when that world was coming to its end. Peach sometimes even believed the story was true.

"Bowser," Peach called softly. He was defensive during their first meeting but she was never injured, she stood firm, unafraid, but full of compassion and it worked.

Bowser moved towards her, within the heavily fortified cell. "Peach," he didn't speak to anyone else anymore. He refused to perform and be treated as an experiment, now he only spoke to her.

Peach undid a multitude of locks, by keys and electronics, until she finally managed to let him out. It wasn't like that from the start, at first she was a little reluctant to free him, but now she trusted him. "Long day?"

Bowser nodded but made no mention of the experiments that occupied the day. "I missed you Peachy," and he took her in his arms, holding her close as she responded to the hug. "Let's run away together sometime," he whispered in her ear, his breath and body both felt warm and Peach was comfortable being so close.

But she knew he would be hunted down if he disappeared, and they had no allies willing to find a way to free him. There were those little 'free the dragon turtle' support groups, but sadly they made him sound more like a caged beast than a civilized being. However, Peach had decided that somehow, someday, she would rescue him. "Yes, someday we will..."

Since the day when she got a special tour of the laboratories, she had not stopped thinking about him. The alien cross between dragon and turtle that the researchers once called a genius and now called a monster. She didn't understand why she felt so compelled to see him again despite the risks. She somehow knew that her affection towards him went well beyond the boundaries of compassion. Sometimes, even if to most it would sound absurd, she even went as far as to wonder if she had fallen in love.

End of Event 15

Disclaimer, I don't own Peach or Bowser or anyone from the Mario world. 


	16. A Cold and a Movie

Vacation

Event 16: A Cold and a Movie

Under any other circumstances, Bowser would ignore Kamek's recommendation of resting, the Koopa King didn't need extra rest, the great Bowser would not be taken down by a mere cold. But the truth was that he did need to rest, and that a microscopic virus had indeed defeated the proud king. However, those were not the reasons that made him accept Kamek's advice, cold or no cold, if Peach offered to play nurse, Bowser rest until he was exhausted from resting, if that was even possible.

"You still have a bit of a fever," and the fever was quite welcome if it mean feeling Peach's soft gentle hands on his face. She was not wearing her gloves to be able to perceive the temperature better. "But you certainly look happy."

"You're here; of course I'm ha-ah-!"

"Bless you."

"Acho!" Bowser took the tissue Peach offered just on time and sneeze into it. The tissue caught on fire, but that problem was solved when Bowser threw it out his bedside window. The screams of an unfortunate guard bellow were heard, but Bowser pretended that he didn't notice, it wasn't important anyway.

"You should get some sleep," Peach suggested.

But Bowser wasn't ready to go see the Peach in his dreams when he had the real Peach there with him. "I'm not tired," the cold had taken away most of his energy, but every second he could spend with Peach was precious and Bowser would not waste it.

"Okay, how about a movie?" Peach knew it would be pointless to argue. She also remembered her own stubbornness in saying she was fine when she had a bad cold. She didn't like to sleep in all day, but if she could watch some good movies then staying in bed wouldn't be so bad.

"Yeah, let's go to the movies!" Bowser wondered if the fever was making him light headed and causing him to hear things, or if Peach was really asking him out on a date.

"No, I mean we should watch a movie here, would you like to do that?"

"That's even better," as long as Peach was close to him, anything would be a great idea for Bowser.

Peach looked over the large collection of DVDs. She had not watched many of the movies there. They were filmed in different parts of the Koopa Kingdom and only a few had been brought over to the Mushroom Kingdom. "Is there a specific movie you want to watch?"

"The video of our wedding, but that was never made. Even better, I want to watch the video of our second wedding, we should film it soon."

Peach giggled, even if Bowser was sick, feverish and a little light headed he still said things like that. "How about this one?" Peach chose one of the movies, holding up the DVD for Bowser to see.

"Which ever you like Peachy, as long as we watch it together."

"Alright, then let's watch this," Peach inserted the disk into the DVD player, the large screen lighting up as she did. She set the movie to play and looked around the room for a place to sit. Bowser looked like he was waiting for Peach to sit on the bed next to him. She decided there would be no harm in just sitting next to him so she did. Bowser placed his arm around Peach's shoulders. "Bowser..."

"It's okay, you can't catch a koopa cold."

"You know that's not what I mean."

"Aren't you going to help me with your love?"

Bowser could be so cute without even realizing it, and Peach knew he loved her more than anything. Maybe she could allow him to stay close this time. "I'll try," she moved closer.

End of Event 16

Disclaimer, I don't own Bowser or Peach. Event 16 was requested by mariosonic (Bowser with a cold), and Rock Raider (Peach and Bowser watching a movie). 


	17. Wild Goose Chase

Vacation

Event 17: Wild Goose Chase

"My name is Mint T. I'm a reporter turned talk show host, who occasionally works as a paparazzi to gather material for my late night show. The Mushroom Kingdom has been censoring me like there's no tomorrow, but my ratings speak for themselves. The people love me and the king doesn't have the heart to take me off the air knowing that his people will be very disappointed.

My job is not an easy one. I've been chased around by countless mushroom guards, koopa troopas, paratroopas, goombas and several others. I've also been in danger of falling into lava pits or being devoured by chain chops and many other fiends, but I will not give up.

Sometimes I get exited but end up with nothing but disappointment when I run into a lock that I can't pick, when I'm thrown out by security, or when I realize that the word hard is being used to describe the difficulty of a particular task instead of... well you know.

I'll admit that my head's in the gutter twenty-four seven; and that my first thoughts were not about cake toppings when I heard Peach say something about a banana, but it's all for the good of the world. People want to know what's going on in Peach and Bowser's lives, and I'm here to give them what they want.

Today I went to investigate a secluded resort in the peaceful Donut Plains. An anonymous source tipped me off to some hot action taking place there, but alas it was a trick. I did in fact find a familiar couple sitting under a tree kissing, but they were not Bowser and Peach. They were Kamek and Kammy, and I once again found myself running for my life with two angry magikoopa after me. I think that was the worse close call I've had yet. If I catch the one who tricked me with false information, there will be trouble."

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile in the Koopa Castle...

"Do you really think that was okay?" Peach was feeling a little concerned.

"Sending Mint T. that anonymous letter was your idea," Bowser reminded her.

"Yes, but it was your idea to send Kamek and Kammy on vacation to the same location we tricked Mint T. into going."

"I made it more fun. We're a great team!"

Peach laughed, Bowser wouldn't be Bowser without some mischief.

End of Event 17

Disclaimer, I do not own the Nintendo characters. Mint T. is an original character, but I claim only the character herself and not the Mario world concepts. 


	18. Instant

Vacation

Event 18: Instant

Was it possible for it to be cold and warm as the same time? Though the snow continued to fall at a steady pace outside, the flames also burned in the fireplace and the plush rug felt more like a thin mattress than a rug.

There was furniture to sit on, but there was just something indescribably special about sitting on the floor in front of the fire place. It was something she had seen in a post card maybe; or perhaps in a dream.

She snuggled closer wondering how such a small fire, though vividly roaring it's silent song, could create this much warmth. But then she came to the realization that it wasn't the flames in the fireplace at all. It was the warmth that came from him.

He held her carefully, with infinite joy at her acceptance of his embrace and even a mutual response. He touched her golden hair, his other hand around her shoulders. She moved closer, shifting from sitting on the rug beside him, to sitting on his lap and cuddled.

The embrace was warm and comfortable, welcomed and comforting. It was a moment in their own little world, an instant when time froze and hearts melted in a kiss.

End of Event 18

Disclaimer, I don't own Bowser or Peach. I'm sure you already guessed that this is about them even if I don't mention their names. Event 18 was inspired by Rock Raider. 


	19. Pink

Vacation

Event 19: Pink

Red can mean love or anger, and pink isn't always about a damsel in distress. The strength to face life can sometimes be found in most unexpected places.

The scene was very familiar to Peach, the landscape blurred by the rapid movement, the yelling of the toads bellow becoming a distant echo, and his laughter as he made his get away with her. Peach leaned over the edge of the clown copter. The toad guards had been left behind, but Mario still pressed onward. Koopas, paratroopas and goombas came to face him, all being cast aside easily. "Mario..."

Despite the noise that surrounded them, the battle cries, the buzzing of the clown copter, and his own laughter, Bowser could clearly hear Peach speak the name of his rival. "Forget him; I could make you a lot happier!"

Peach debated if she should dignify her captor with a response, but refusing to speak had not gained her anything in the past. "I'm not happy to be kidnapped!" A rush of wind came, sending the clown copter into temporary turmoil.

Peach screamed; she was certain she would fall, but instead found herself in a warm and safe embrace. "Are you, okay? You better stay close or you might fall."

Peach slipped out of Bowser's arms mentally scolding herself for even thinking his warmth was pleasant.

"What? No thanks for saving my life?"

"You're the one who put me in danger in the first place!"

"I'm only trying to make you understand-"

"I'm not talking to you anymore," Peach turned her attention to the passing scenery, getting a firm grip on the clown copter so she would not be in danger of fall again. She was in a particularly bad mood that day, after accidentally eavesdropping on a conversation between her father the Mushroom King, Sir Toadsworth and a few dignitaries from neighboring countries.

Though both the Mushroom King and Toadsworth were opposed to the idea of an arranged marriage, the dignitaries each had a prince to recommend. Peach had been walking down the hall on her way to meet Mario when the subject was brought up. The hero was completely excluded from the conversation by the dignitaries, and whenever Toadsworth or the king brought up the name of Mario, the dignitaries changed the subject to speak about the prince they represented.

Not only was Peach left out of participating in the discussion, but the princes as well. She didn't like this, and she decided that she would stand up for herself. But worries inevitably climbed up the back of her mind as she remembered who she was and what was expected of her.

Then she woke from her daze and realized that the clown copter was finally landed. She climbed out as soon as the vehicle touched land, uncharacteristically ignoring Bowser's attempt to help her out.

"You're in a really bad mood today Peach, did Mario do something to bother you?" It would be yet another reason for Bowser to crush the plumber when he finished making his way past the many guards.

"It's not that!" Peach yelled, than paused, catching a glimpse of hurt in Bowser's eyes. It came and went so quickly, hiding away behind his usual strong expression, that anyone else would have missed it. But Peach was good at noticing details. "I'm just feeling frustrated with life."

"Your Majesty! Mario is here; he followed you closely and broke through the defenses faster than expected!" A paratroopa flew towards Bowser, with the announcement.

"So am I," Bowser replied to Peach's previous confession, "keep him in the castle, we're taking the tunnel."

"Yes sir!" The paratroopa saluted and flew away.

"The tunnel?" Peach inquired, "don't you mean the warp pipe?"

"I made a scenic route for you, I'm sure you'll love it!" Peach and Bowser usually stayed in a castle until Mario approached, then moved to another via a warp pipe. That was the reason why Mario had to search them all until he finally caught up to Bowser, seven or eight castles later. It wasn't that the plumber was lost being constantly told that the princess was in another castle, but rather that she had in fact recently been in that castle.

This time, instead of warp pipes, Bowser and Peach headed out of Grassland and towards the next castle traveling through an underground tunnel. Bowser hoped the scenic route, as he called it, would put Peach in a romantic mood, or at least relax her. "This is..." Peach couldn't find the right words.

"Do you like it?" Bowser hopefully asked.

Peach breathed deeply, honesty was always best. "Doesn't it hurt your eyes?" Sure pink was her favorite color, but the unhealthy amount of pink in that tunnel gave a new meaning to the phrase too much of a good thing. The walls were pink, the carpet was pink, the ceiling was pink with chandeliers of pink crystals, there were pink flowers in pink pots, and even the leaves were pink.

"Tell me about it, but it's your favorite color so I'll endure it," Bowser laughed proudly. In his mind, Peach was impressed by his willingness to please her.

But in reality, Peach's teary eyes were due to her vision becoming tired of the overload of pink. Oh well, it's the thought that counts. "Thank you, but next time, you don't need to go out of your way so much with all the pink."

"It's fine as long as it makes you happy," he took her hand.

Peach closed her eyes, resting her vision from staring at so much pink as they walked down the tunnel. Wait a minute, why was she thanking him? Thoughtful or not, he was her kidnapper... Sure she wanted to rest her eyes, but that was no excuse to allow him to lead the way while holding her hand, all she had to do was walk straight ahead anyway. Peach slipped her hand out of Bowser's, and hurried on, tripping on a pink kart that camouflaged itself perfectly among the pink everything.

"Peach, are you okay?" Bowser rushed over to help her stand.

"Yes, I'm fine," she wasn't really; she was a prisoner, even if she didn't quite feel like one. She sighed; she was trained to say she was fine; it was the polite thing to do, but if she was going to stand up for herself she might as well start now. She took off the top layer of her skirt, the short decorative one, and placed it on her head like a hood, hiding her blonde hair in it.

"What are you doing?" Bowser observed her curiously.

"Becoming invisible," Peach hopped on the pink kart. The tunnel was so long that having a romantic walk all the way wouldn't make sense. Bowser intended to have a romantic walk; then entertain the princess with a little race, but he didn't expect her to take a head start. Peach stepped on the accelerator and sped away. Good thing the tunnel was straight because it was hard to see with pink on pink, on more pink.

"Wait! That's cheating!" Bowser jumped on his kart, which was green, because as much as he wanted to please Peach with her favorite color, painting his kart pink was too much. The Koopa King sped away after the Mushroom Princess, but quickly lost her in all the pink. She hid her hair so he couldn't use the golden color as a reference to her location.

Bowser heard the sound of a kart other than his and he thought he was close to Peach even if he couldn't see her with things becoming extra blurry with speed and visual exhaustation. Then the sound ceased for a few seconds and continued soon after. "Look behind you!"

Bowser looked back, he saw pink on pink, blurred by the speed, but among the pink there was a distinct black spot with a piece of thread sticking out of the top, and a little flame burning the thread. "Peachy?"

Peach threw the bomb, which Bowser was quick to evade. The tires of his kart ate away at the plush pink carpet and took a moment to come to a full stop. Then there was another bomb flying in his direction, which caught him by surprise. "Got you!"

But at the last moment, Bowser breathed fire, igniting the bomb on mid air and escaping the explosion. "It won't be that easy!" The rain of bombs that followed came so fast that Bowser couldn't avoid them. He was trapped in the explosion and left lightheaded and dizzy on the floor.

"I win!" Peach cheered. She didn't know what came over her; she wasn't behaving like she was taught, but somehow it felt good.

"Alright, you win and you get a great prize, a kiss from the Koopa King!"

Peach laughed, Bowser had to try to turn this into a victory for himself somehow. The bad mood Peach was in before had melted away, and she felt ready to face any challenge. Somehow, she drew that strength from Bowser. "I'll give you a rematch."

End of Event 19

Disclaimer, I don't own the Nintendo characters. 


	20. Baby

Vacation

Event 20: Baby

The human and koopa hybrid child was so small and looked so fragile. Peach held the baby gently, tending to her with great care. "Wendy always wanted a sister."

Bowser, nodded, looking at the child Peach held, "she looks a lot like you."

"Do you want to hold her?" Peach asked.

"I can't," the baby was so small, so fragile, he couldn't...

"C'mon, it's not that hard, and she's your daughter too." Peach placed the baby in Bowser's hand; she was so small that she fit in the palm of his hand easily.

Bowser stood motionless as the baby made a soft sound, "is she okay?"

"She's fine, she just wants her milk," Peach replied.

"Then you should take her."

"Giving her milk isn't so hard, I'll tell you how it's done step by step," Peach explained it and it wasn't that Bowser didn't understand the procedure, it's just that the circumstances prevented him from successfully accomplishing the task.

"I can't, she's too small!" It was impossible; Bowser's claw was too big to press the tiny buttons on the key chain and he kept worrying that he would break their virtual child.

"I'll do it," Peach took the tiny keychain and fed the virtual baby. The child beeped contently and smiled on the screen.

End of Event 20

Gotcha! Or did you see it coming? XD Event 20 is a little joke-fic for Rock Raider. Disclaimer, I don't own the Nintendo characters or the Tamagotchi style virtual babies. 


	21. Crazy Dream

The following one shot is total craziness based on a dream; skip it if you're not into random crack-fics, most of the other stories in this collection are somewhat normal.

Vacation

Event 21: Crazy Dream

What happens when I have a crazy dream about Peach? It's up to Kammy to interpret it. "Okay, tell me about the dream in detail." Kammy sat across from me in a place I could describe as a classic tea room. I didn't even know they had such a thing in a castle belonging to the Koopa Kingdom, but if it existed, it had to exist in Ludwig's wing.

"Yes," both Kammy and I are doing a great job of ignoring Ludwig's glares and uncomfortable squirming along with the melodious sound of the chains colliding with each other. I pet his blue hair to ease him still. He'll just have to learn to sit like a good boy when told to do so, because fan girls always have the last word.

I breathe deeply and begin to retell the story of my dream. "I was part of a special spy-style agent group called Turks that worked for a corporation named Shinra, which wanted to take over the galaxy by monopolizing its energy resources. The galaxy was under the rule of an evil emperor so for the moment being the rebel forces, Avalanche led by Princess Leia, and Shinra were working together; even if it was obvious they would eventually become enemies."

"I was part of a team consisting of Leia, Han Solo, Reno and Cid. We were on a desert planet called Tatooine where some guys in white armor called Storm Troopers were holding Princess Peach hostage, in a small three floor tower. Reno, Cid and Han kept talking about how much they liked space ships and about their adventure working as intergalactic illegal traders for an alien race of giant worms called hutts, they were being such chatterboxes that the Storm Troopers discovered us."

"Luckily I was able to disguise myself as a Storm Mage, the magic using female counterpart of the Storm Trooper. I was allowed into the tower where I found Princess Peach. Elena and Tifa were also there trying to rescue Peach. Elena was with Shinra and Tifa with Avalanche."

"The strangest thing is that Peach was pregnant in the dream and usually when I have a dream with Peach she's in love with Bowser, so I didn't even try to ask her about that. We started drinking Pepsi but Tifa spiked it, and it's odd because I've never been drunk, but in the dream I was supposed to be, even if I don't like alcohol because it's bitter so I never drink, but I do love Pepsi. Then Reno came to ask why we haven't escaped and got mad because we didn't invite him to the drinking party."

Kammy blinked, she knew my dreams were random but this was even more random than usual, "then what happened?"

"I woke up."

Kammy rubbed her chin making a "hmm" sound. "Well, the theme of kidnapping is not rare, but his Nastiness was absent from the dream which means that someone else might try to kidnap Peach. But the baby... since Peach is always in love with Bowser in your dreams then I assume the child must be his."

"I guess you're right, my subconscious can be pretty crazy." I'm not sure if I should be proud of my active imagination or worried because of it.

"Hmm! Hmm!" I think Ludwig was trying to say that I can be crazy when I'm awake too, though his mouth was covered and he couldn't properly speak, or call for help. I just petted him on the head and ignored the complaints. What can I say? Fan girls are possessive.

"So what does that mean?" Kammy nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard that voice. She glanced over at me as if silently asking for how long Bowser had been standing behind her and why I didn't warn her.

"Bowser came in around the time I was let inside the tower in the dream," I didn't really mind if Bowser heard the story, my crazy dreams were no secret.

But now the Koopa King's curiosity had moved from the magikoopa to me, while ignoring his eldest son's pleas to be freed, "what does that mean?"

I shake my head, "I don't know." Because honestly, I just don't know what to think about this crazy dream.

End of Event 21

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario, Pepsi, Star Wars or Final Fantasy VII. Well that was odd... but at least it didn't rain plushies of me, that would be as weird as a sea of flowers or fruit falling from the sky. If you have no idea what this reference is about, shame on you! Go read Razzi's Change of Heart, right now. It's a must for all BxP fans. I also want to give special thanks to Rock Raider. I'm pretty sure Rock Raider's review and Razzi's latest chapter is what triggered that dream, except the review and CoH chapter make a lot more sense than my crazy dream. 


	22. Fiction Writer

Vacation

Event 22: Fiction Writer

"The sun shone brightly in the sky, a soft breeze blowing gently as the lovers enjoyed the beautiful day. She smiled at him while he laid his head on her lap smiling back and she fed him grapes, as he kissed her fingers when they brushed against his lips. The desire reflected in their eyes revealed the fiery passing in their hearts. Unable to contain themselves any longer they..."

"Why did you stop reading?" Bowser asked when Peach put the newspaper down.

It should be called a gossip-paper instead of newspaper, or more accurately, a work of fiction. "She made it up; once again Mint T. wrote what she didn't see. You weren't even with me on that day, there were no grapes and I was feeding those rare tropical cheep-cheep they put in the fountain."

"But it's still a good story; we should recreate that scene some time."

Peach laughed, "I should have known you would say that. But I do wish that Mint T. would realize that her true calling is fiction instead of journalism."

End of Event 22

Disclaimer, I don't own the Nintendo characters. Mint T. is an OC. 


	23. To Know

This one is kind of bittersweet.

Vacation

Event 23: To Know

It's impossible to know what has never been said, shown or otherwise hinted at. Some things are told or shown to us by people, other things we hear about or see without being directly told about it. We collect information from the environment, and same things are communicated by the environment itself, instinct, or a natural reaction. We learn logic, and reach conclusions.

However, there are certain things that can only be told to us, or shown to us by living beings. Special occasions, such as holidays, spread in what becomes common knowledge. We see it, we hear about it, and even if we're not directly told, we know.

But there are also other occasions that are different only to a small group of people, birthdays and anniversaries of happy or sad events. Those days hold meaning only if one knows what happened on that day, and it is not something everyone knows so it may not be so easy to simply hear about it without being told; most of all if the occasion is sad and rarely spoken of.

She didn't know, how was she supposed to know? She thought she should have known, but she couldn't have. Peach knew Clawdia had existed, she knew she had been Bowser's wife and queen, the mother of the koopalings. She knew of her untimely death, and she even knew of the secret location of her grave. But what she did not know was that the anniversary of her death was today.

It was supposed to be a visit, a normal happy visit, but it wasn't, because no one had told her. Though unprepared for what she found, she received the unspoken needs for a mother that children had.

Then finally, after the day had calmed and nearly ended, she visited the grave with Bowser as if to silently assure Clawdia that she would take care of them. Peach realized that this was part of becoming one of the family, sharing the happy and sad times, and looking forward to creating memories on the next day.

End of Event 23

Disclaimer, I don't own the Nintendo characters. Event 23 was Requested by Rock Raider. 


	24. Reptile Awareness Day

Vacation

Event 24: Reptile Awareness Day

"So you see, it is your duty," Toadsworth set down the ancient papers that looked like they were ready to fall apart. Peach should put those in the Mushroom Kingdom Historic Museum, because they were in no conditions for practical use. But honestly, that wasn't her main concern at the moment.

"Wouldn't it be, well..." Rude? Was that the word? Not quite, perhaps odd would be a more accurate description.

"It would be illegal not to," Toadsworth emphasized. "The constitution, though old, has not yet been amended and thus it still governs. It is required for a representative of the royal family, and you have been chosen as the representative, to send a gift to the rulers of all neighboring kingdoms in their special holidays."

"Does Bowser even celebrate reptile awareness day?" Peach wondered if he did, and if so, did he include himself in it? Then again, this was Bowser; he would jump at the chance of any celebration somehow dedicated to him. "Alright, let's send him something, but I'm not sure what."

"It's alright; I have already picked something out, a lovely pet imported from Kongobongo Island," Toadsworth showed Peach a picture of a purple alligator with a relatively small body for its large head and overgrown jaws.

"What if it bites Bowser?" The animal did look rather carnivorous with those huge sharp fangs, nothing like a tame pet.

"I'm sure it won't, all you need to do is sign the card," Toadsworth grinned, with an expression that Peach had never seen on him before.

The princess sighed and signed the card, muttering a soft, "sorry Bowser."

Toadsworth continued to grin, "good, good, I'll have it sent right away." Bowser would pay for sending him that giant mushroom covered in ketchup that looked like a decapitated Toad for his birthday. It nearly gave Toadsworth a heart attack and he had nightmares for weeks.

End of Event 24

October 11 is Reptile Awareness Day. That's another weird holiday I didn't know of. Thanks to Little Duck for telling me about Reptile Awareness Day. Disclaimer, I don't own the Nintendo characters, that includes the Mario characters and the purple crocodile from Donkey Kong. The name of Kongobongo Island is from the Donkey Kong TV series. 


	25. A Little Line

This is a birthday gift for Razzi, one day early, but it's almost midnight over here, so it's not too early.

Vacation

Event 25: A Little Line

"That," Bowser pointed, "is a little line." The painting hung in a prominent spot in the art exhibition, with more lights than it deserved.

Peach looked nervously at the offended faces around them. They kept saying that Bowser had no culture. In their eyes he was uncivilized and wouldn't know art if it stomped on his tail, punched him in the nose and kicked him out of the exhibition.

"No, Bowser, this one is titled War and Love, I'm afraid we couldn't get A Little Line to be exhibited here this time, but I'm sure we'll have it next time." Peach actually pretended there was such a painting titled A Little Line, and that Bowser was merely confused. But the fact still stood that the white canvas before them hosted nothing but a little black line in its center.

The Koopa King looked at the Princess on his arm with the most adorable confused expression, "but it is a little line!" He insisted like a child.

Peach laughed nervously, hoping that her date would understand that claiming that this work of art was nothing but a mere line was insulting to the high society guests. Truthfully, it was a little line, but they didn't want to admit it.

"Ehem!" The author of the painting War and Love, which was nothing more than a mere line, cleared his throat louder than needed. "May I have your attention please?" He sounded as if the request was directed more at Bowser than anyone else. "I will explain my painting."

The crowd that gathered around began to mutter about how the meaning of the painting was so "deep" and "amazing" and that anyone with an once of culture could clearly see the "strong emotions" reflected in this "fine work of art." Bowser only pouted, knowing full well they were referring to him, but Peach tugged at his arm and kept him from saying anything.

The so called artist then began his explanation, "this painting tells the story if a brave warrior who has to leave his beloved in their village to fight along his fellow samurai. He felt so lonely in the battle field; look at the warrior bravely marching on!" He pointed at the line, "there he is with his sword!" The little line represented not only the warrior but also the sword.

"This is his lady, his beloved, awaiting the samurai's return!" The lady was also the little line. "There she is in the vast flower fields that her beloved has gone to protect." The artist moved his hands in circles pointing at the white area that occupied most of the canvas, save for that one little line in the middle.

"The lady in the village feels alone as well, for she misses her beloved. Look at the emptiness of her heart; it is the same emptiness that the samurai carries in his heart as well!" So the white canvas was also their empty hearts, and the flowers, and the battle field... right.

"There they are in the vast flower fields and the chaotic battle field, but those places are nothing to them, for they can only think of each other. The war that drew them apart would not defeat their love. There they are, together again, forever joined!" Now it sounded as if half the line was the warrior and half was the lady, "surrounded by their neighbors, their family and their comrades, victorious!" It was all there, everything was represented by that one little line in an otherwise empty canvas.

A few people in the audience were getting teary with emotions as the artist explained. Bowser thought they were insane, but for Peach's sake he remained quiet as the artist finished his story.

"There they are! The path of love must be walked without looking back and without straying from it." The artists' finger went up and down along the little line. "This is the path of love, with no alternate routes, no shortcuts, no easy ways to get to end and absolute loyalty!" The straight line symbolized fidelity, to look forward without looking at any other. "When you have love, war crumbles, and you have it all even if you have nothing but each other!" The white canvas, nothing and everything...

The audience clapped, applauding for a full ten minutes. When the crowd finally dissipated, Bowser and Peach snuck away as well. They went to see the paintings about them, Bowser really liked those.

"Maybe I should host an exhibition with my art," Bowser decided.

"Your art? How come I've never seen it before?" Peach curiously asked.

"I'll show you soon, I'm sure you'll love it." Bowser knew it was a good idea to save all those Peach doodles he made on the back of his kingdom's official documents during boring meetings. If a little line commanded that much admiration, then people would adore his drawings; and no one would say they were similar to the doodles of a love struck school boy. Not that they dared to say it anyway, at least not to Bowser's face.

End of Event 25

Disclaimer, I don't own the Nintendo characters. This was inspired by one of Razzi's blog posts about art and specifically by the painting Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue by Piet Mondrian. I joked about drawing a little line and making up an epic story to go with it, thus turning the little line into a great work of art. XD Happy Birthday Razzi! 


	26. The Twelve Days of Christmas

A singing fairy, a princess in love, plenty of randomness, and a New Year gift for Razzi. BowserxPeach, but the story is mostly about Peach really. This was inspired by Razzi's Twelve Days of Christmas gift art. She drew Keres and Skyri "two turtle doves" for the second day. Happy New Year!

Vacation

Event 26: The Twelve Days of Christmas

'There are people who are adorable once you get to know them,' Peach mused, 'and there are others who are adorable until you get to know them. Afterwards, they're just annoying.'

The person in question sat smiling smugly upon her window. "Hi!" The little fairy greeted cheerfully. She was small, tiny enough to fit in the palm of Peach's hand. She donned a mushroom on her head and shiny wings on her back.

"Hello," Peach greeted, she sincerely hoped that the fairy would not take to sitting on her shoulder and talking to her ear in that little high pitched voice today. If she did, the princess would do her best to politely ask the fairy to either get off or be quiet, but the dear fairy was still a tiny fragile creature and though she could be annoying, she could also melt almost anyone's heart with her ultimate miniature cuteness.

"You look pensive today..."

"I do?"

"What are you thinking of?" Aside being both cute and annoying, the fairy was rather nosy.

"Nothing..."

"Of Bowser maybe?" She was also a fan of the Koopa King, though Bowser very much disliked the annoying little fairy, or bug as he called her.

"Not really..." Quite frankly, Peach was thinking about her nosy little stalker and of nothing else at the moment.

"On the first day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, a very confused Peach!" The fairy's high pitch voice wasn't exactly easy on the ears when she was talking and when she was singing it could make anyone cringe. It was puzzling how such a tiny creature was capable of producing so much noise.

"I'm not confused," before Peach could further inquire why her fairy friend thought she was confused, the computer beeped announcing the incoming email on Peach's automatic program.

"You know someone told me you shouldn't stay logged in all the time and you shouldn't use those remember me things because it might not be safe," the fairy rambled.

"Look, Keres and Skyri sent pictures from their vacation!" At Costa Del Sol, those two were playing at the beach under the hot sun while everyone the Mushroom Kingdom was three feet deep in snow.

"Let me see!" The fairy flew at the monitor, stopping just on time to avoid hitting it.

"You shouldn't get so close to the screen," Peach advised.

"On the second day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, two dancing koopas and a very confused Peach!" The fairy sang.

Peach blinked, "these pictures are from Keres and Skyri, Bowser didn't send them."

The fairy grinned, "gotcha!"

"What... That's..." Before Peach could put up an argument and explain the accidental play on words about her so called true love, a very strange carol filled the room. The princess opened the door to find three yoshis singing in the hall. Yoshi, Mario's green friend was one of them, Yoshi's main racing rival, Boshi, was also there, wearing his trademark shades and spiked bracelets. The third caroler was a pink female yoshi with a blue bow on her head. "That was very nice, thank you!" Though all they sang was the word 'yoshi' over and over, they still managed to sound cute and Peach really did appreciate the thought of bringing her a carol.

"On the third day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, three yoshis singing, two dancing koopas and a very confused Peach!" The fairy sang and that brought questions from the yoshis, which Peach was fortunately able to dismiss by explaining that the fairy was just being random and silly.

As the afternoon continued to roll, Mario, Luigi and Daisy arrived, then it was time for Peach to present the cakes she had backed earlier. One of them was chocolate, the other vanilla, another strawberry and the last was a cheese cake. Peach had a slice of strawberry, Daisy preferred the cheese cake, Luigi the chocolate, the fairy the vanilla and the yoshis and Mario had a slice of each, finishing what everyone else had left unfinished.

Though Mario and the three yoshis ate the most, it was still impressive to watch the fairy eat an entire normal sized slice of cake. It could be argued that she ate the most, since she was smaller thus making that one slice of cake bigger than her.

"On the forth day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, four yummy cakes, three yoshis singing, two dancing koopas and a very confused Peach!" The odd song brought odd stares from the new guests, but again, it was quickly dismissed.

After everyone went home for the evening, save for the fairy who insisted on following Peach and chattering her little head off, the princess and the bug, I mean fairy, came across a very worried Toadsworth on the hall while they headed back to Peach's room. The old mushroom was muttering something about his worries, "the ball, the fireworks, the food, the guests, the gifts!"

While Peach tried to calm Toadsworth and assure him that all the details concerning the upcoming party were already taking care of, and did not require going over them every five minutes until the event took place, the fairy occupied herself with singing. "On the fifth day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, five Toadworth worries, four yummy cakes, three yoshis singing, two dancing koopas and a very confused Peach!" To the odd looks from the princess and the elderly mushroom, the fairy replied with, "because everyone knows that these are not just worries, they are 'Toadsworth worries' and that makes them special! Besides, we all know the Koopa family is actually invited this time so it fits."

Toadsworth didn't get it; Peach did, but decided not to explain what the fairy was referring to. Toadworth already knew about the special royal guests, and that was all he needed to know, that the Koopa family was coming, any extra hidden message that the fairy was trying to communicate with her song would remain hidden.

After Peach managed to calm Toadsworth, she returned to her room along with the fairy and soon after received a delivery. It was a box wrapped in shiny pink paper, with a golden ribbon tied around it. Though it had no card, Peach had a pretty good idea who it was from and why it couldn't have a card. The box contained six fancy chocolate bonbons, each one the size of a baseball.

Cue more high pitched singing, "on the sixth day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, six chocolate bonbons, five Toadworth worries, four yummy cakes, three yoshis singing, two dancing koopas and a very confused Peach!"

"You know, I was the one who made those cakes," Peach pointed out.

"I know but I need four of something for this song I'm composing." The fairy smiled, pleased with the song's progress so far.

As time passed, the sun sunk in the horizon and Peach finally asked, "aren't you going home?"

"Nope, I'm staying here for a sleepover," the fairy had neglected to mention that earlier.

"What about Wendy?" Peach asked.

"She already knows," the fairy had broken the rules of her tribe and gotten to close to the beings of the outside world, mushroom people, yoshis, koopas, every living creature that wasn't a fairy was a being of the outside world to them. Because of that, she was kicked out of the fairy kingdom in fear that she may reveal its location to the wrong person.

The fairy had started living with Peach, who kindly took her in, and later with Wendy who decided that she liked having the fairy sit on her head like an extra accessory to compliment her bow. Peach had absolutely no objection in letting the fairy go and recovering her peace and quiet. The fairy's name was a screeching sound that could not be pronounced by humans or koopas, thus she adopted the name Bowser gave her, 'Bug'.

Peach sighed; she didn't have the heart to kick Bug out. She looked out the window at the first seven stars that had appeared in the sky, the seven legendary stars of the Star Road, and had a moment of peaceful silence until Bug sang again. "On the seventh day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, seven shiny stars, six chocolate bonbons, five Toadworth worries, four yummy cakes, three yoshis singing, two dancing koopas and a very confused Peach!"

Immediately after Bug ended her song, the silence didn't have time to fully settle in before it disappeared again with the arrival of eight hyper koopalings bringing presents for Peach. They had each brought a differently colored jewel in pink, red, blue, cyan, yellow, orange, purple and white.

"On the eight day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, eight rainbow jewels, seven shiny stars, six chocolate bonbons, five Toadsworth worries, four yummy cakes, three yoshis singing, two dancing koopas and a very confused Peach!" Several voices asking why Peach was confused soon followed.

After the chaotic yet fun visit had ended and the koopalings had gone home, Parakarry arrived with a last minute delivery. He brought nine precious ornaments, made by high standing people from several other kingdoms. Those ornaments would be expected to be displayed on the Christmas three located at the main ballroom during the upcoming party. Of course Peach had to help decide where exactly each one would go.

"On the ninth day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, nine glitter balls, eight rainbow jewels, seven shiny stars, six chocolate bonbons, five Toadworth worries, four yummy cakes, three yoshis singing, two dancing koopas and a very confused Peach!"

"These glitter balls, I mean the Christmas decorations came from all over the world, they're not from my true love," Peach tried to reason with Bug.

But the fairy shook her little head. "Don't hold back my creativity, I'm going to write down all of this and give it to Ludwig since everyone knows he's a musical genius." Ludwig had better get his magnifying glass ready for Bug's tiny handwriting, because she wasn't planning to leave him alone until he read her lyrics when she finished them and composed a lovely symphony to go along with them.

The night progressed and Peach took a moment to feed her fish, which thankfully only needed to be fed once a day.

"There's ten of them! On the tenth day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, ten swimming fish, nine glitter balls, eight rainbow jewels, seven shiny stars, six chocolate bonbons, five Toadworth worries, four yummy cakes, three yoshis singing, two dancing koopas and a very confused Peach!" By now Peach had learned to simply roll her eyes and ignore Bug's silly song.

After playing some video games with Bug, who was pretty good despite being so small that a normal controller was like a DDR pad for her, the princess and the fairy finally went to sleep.

It wasn't until the following morning that Peach was woken up with the continuation of Bug's song, and the sight of snow. "On the eleventh day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, eleven snow flakes, ten swimming fish, nine glitter balls, eight rainbow jewels, seven shiny stars, six chocolate bonbons, five Toadworth worries, four yummy cakes, three yoshis singing, two dancing koopas and a very confused Peach!"

Peach tried to fall asleep again, but she could not. Thus she got up, finished up her morning activities and left her room to find Bowser waiting in the hall with a dozen pink roses.

"That's it, the ending for my song!" Bug cheered. "I think I'll change that first day verse too, here goes. On the twelfth day of Christmas your true love gave to thee, twelve pink roses, eleven snow flakes, ten swimming fish, nine glitter balls, eight rainbow jewels, seven shiny stars, six chocolate bonbons, five Toadworth worries, four yummy cakes, three yoshis singing, two dancing koopas and a very in love Peach!"

End of Event 26

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario or Final Fantasy VII (where Costa Del Sol is from). Bug is another of my regular OC, who has finally been named and was otherwise known simply as the mushroom fairy in the past. The idea of making her real name impossible to pronounce for beings not of her kind came from the scene where Geno introduces himself in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. 


	27. Play Pretend

Peach's act is getting old...

Vacation

Event 27: Play Pretend

There is a tree in the middle of the road. Well not really the middle and it's not really a tree. It's more like a branch pretending to be a tree with small twigs pretending to be branches and a small assortment of leaves pretending to be well... leaves. It's not in the middle of the road either; it's in the middle of the rightmost lane.

They were fixing the road recently, I know that much, but why they put a tree in there is beyond me since even the classic orange cones have been removed. I wonder if it was truly the idea of one of my own citizens or if it is the strangest plan Bowser has come up with up to date. Either way it worked, because my carriage stopped, the driver too shocked to move around the obstacle, and I curiously stepped out to take a better look. I just had to see how firmly rooted to the road the branch pretending to be a tree really was.

Then it happened, the ground disappeared from beneath my feet and I was swept away, carried off by Bowser towards his castle. But I was too surprised to even ask for help, let alone scream for it at the top of my lungs even if it's just for show. There is a tree in the middle of the road, even if it's not really in the middle and it's not really a tree, I can't stop staring at it in surprise until it becomes an indistinguishable dot in the distance. Because that branch can't pretend it's a tree any better that I can still pretend I'm being kidnapped.

End of Event 27

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. This was based on something I saw once. There really was a branch on the road, upright, not just thrown in there. Weird isn't it? It's like someone saw the stuff they used to fix the road wasn't dry yet and decided to stick a branch in it. 


	28. Save me!

Seppuku is suicide by stabbing the stomach.

Vacation

Event 28: Save me!

I had a distant cousin who committed seppuku with a pen during a royal meeting...

I'm back at the Mushroom Castle, but the life of a princess isn't easy when political tensions start to run high. No, I don't have a minute to spare for an extension of the meeting, because I've already spared them all and I'm about to spare myself the agony of sitting through these selfish arguments. Thus I sneak away.

Then Bowser arrived when I'm walking through the gardens trying to cool off. "No!" He backed away, raising his arms as if he were saying 'don't shoot!' because I shot out my answer before I knew the question.

I had a distant cousin who committed seppuku with a pen during a royal meeting... and I'm sadly starting to understand why. "Take me away from all of this." I don't have to tell him twice, and I'm swept away. It's not a kidnapping, it's a vacation.

End of Event 28

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. Anyone can get fed up with too many meetings and senseless arguing, even Peach, though I'm sure her patience is far greater than my own. I needed to let out some stress from last week, might as well let it out in BxP. I have some requests written in my notes, I'll be working on those next, though I'm still not done revising all my stories.


	29. Hot Tub

Vacation

Event 29: Hot Tub

"Did you just say hot tub? Tell me more! Oh wait, hold on..." Daisy checked the odd contraption attached to the phone. It was all to make sure Peach's secret confession remained a secret. "Okay, you can continue."

"Should I leave?" Luigi inquired, standing up without waiting for a reply.

"Shh, don't go, I'll put her on speaker phone," Daisy whispered, mischief evident in her voice and expression.

"Daisy!" Luigi half gasped and half scolded. The Sarasaland Princess had a tendency to put people on speaker phone without warning them, and this would definitely be the worse time to do so if Daisy was sharing one of those super detailed relationship related conversations with Peach.

"I heard that," Peach's voice traveled out the receiver and then though the speaker when Daisy wasted no time in making Peach be heard. "It's fine you can put me on speaker phone. The hot tub was a great idea; I think you and Luigi should try it!"

"Mama mia! My virgin ears!" Luigi decided it was time to flee the scene. Daisy kept no secrets about her personal life and neither did Pauline now that she was dating Mario. As for Peach, she had kept her love life with the Koopa King a secret for a long time, thus Luigi could only assume her need for openness finally got to her and she became as open and Daisy and Pauline; not that it was a good thing from Luigi's point of view, since there were things he would rather be kept private.

"He's gone," Daisy laughed, "Luigi can be so shy, it's adorable. But let's get back on topic, about the hot tub..."

"It was wonderful!" Peach happily exclaimed. "The tub was empty of course, but it had a spell to keep it warm, we got inside and slid all the way down the snowy mountains. It was harder to fall out than with a sleigh so it was safer and it kept us warm."

"You used a hot tub as a sleigh? You took the tub out and... but I thought..."

"Daisy?"

"Never mind Peach, continue with the story!"

End of Event 29

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. Sorry Daisy, but Peach is still not quite as open as you and Pauline. XD A hot tub themed drabble for Rock Raider and Razzi. Who ever caught the reference to Change of Heart gets a cookie! 


	30. Bitter Sweet Cookies

This is for Razzi's challenge, a one shot in first person. I wrote three, they're short so I'm posting them in a the collection. Disclaimer, I don't own the Mario characters and games.

Peach and Daisy talk about their relationships with the Mario brothers and the possibility of Peach liking someone else. BowserxPeach, LuigixDaisy.

Vacation

Event 30: Bitter Sweet Cookies

Peach's POV

"Who is he?" Looking at Daisy's expression it doesn't look like she's upset. Good then maybe this isn't as strange as it sounds, just maybe.

"You know him." I'm not answering her question directly yet. It's not every day that I confess I might like someone other than Mario. To be honest that's exactly what I'm trying to figure out, if I like him, why I like him and how to stop.

Daisy's face paled. I wonder if she figured out that I'm talking about Bowser. She doesn't look like she's gong to take this well. I knew it was crazy, I knew it. She probably thinks I must be so strange. "Peach, is it Luigi?"

"Goodness no!" She gives me an offended look but I can tell she knows I didn't mean for it come out that way.

Then she laughs. "What's wrong with Luigi? I happen to like him you know" She's cheerful again and for that I'm relived but she still hasn't figured it out.

I wonder if I should tell her. She's my best friend and we always tell each other everything but this is something... unusual. "Nothing, I like him too as a friend." Maybe I should use this opportunity to change the subject.

She giggles. "Good, good, now tell me, who is your mystery man?" I should have known that once I spark her curiosity there's no turning back.

"Well... I already told you it's not Mario. I mean I appreciate Mario very much. I care about him with all my heart but I wonder if this is truly what love is. I keep wondering if what I feel is just strong friendship." It began when Luigi and Daisy got together. Until that point I saw both Mario and Luigi the same way, as two great friends. Then the four of us started going out together and it looked like a double date. When Luigi and Daisy became closer I guess that sort of placed Mario and me together. That's how it all started. But with Bowser it's different. He's been telling me he likes it for a long time. I've been refusing him but he keeps trying as if he knows that deep down I'm flattered by all of this. It's odd but the truth is it is kind of nice.

"Earth, to Peach, come in Peach!" Daisy's voice got me out of my thoughts. "You're spacey today. You must really like this guy."

I hope it's not that. I hope I'm just being overly analytical. Before I reveal my confusion I need to clarify the situation with Mario. Yes, let's approach this by order of events. First I'll clarify my relationship with Mario weather it is of friendship or otherwise and then I'll try to understand my relationship with Bowser. That one may be complicated. "What do you think of Mario and me? We're usually together because he's rescuing me or because you're on a date with Luigi and it makes us look like we're in a double date. But are we really a couple?"

The way Daisy is looking at m shows she's in deep thought. I can't read her expression. What is it? Confusion? Pity? What? "You don't know that?" She sounds like she's in disbelief.

"No, I don't. Am I supposed to know?" Maybe this is more complicated than I thought or maybe the answer is right in front of me and I don't want to look at it.

"Have you talked it over with Mario? I mean you should know if you two are a couple or just friends after all this time. Now that I think about it..." Why is she pausing? What does she not want to tell me? "Anyway you should talk to him about it." Oh I tried, believe me I tried, but you're not going to leave your sentence unfinished like that.

"What were you going to say before?" I just have to know.

"Nothing I was just thinking" There is something she doesn't want to tell me.

"Daisy..." I'll keep insisting, whatever it is I need to hear it.

"Well it's just that now that I think about it you two do look like friends. Have you kissed him?" I blink, why would she ask me that? She knows the answer.

"Well yes, you've seen it happen" The questions sounds too obvious what does she mean?

Daisy shakes her head. What am I missing here. "On the lips Peach, not on the cheek."

"Once or twice," now that I think about it that was a little awkward not like the friendly kiss on the cheek.

"How long did it last?" What kind of a question is that?

"A second maybe?" I'm lost...

"Frenchie or just a peck?"

"Pardon?" My face is turning red just with the thought of it. Why is my mind wondering towards someone else. This is insane. I'm not supposed to be thinking of him. He's my kidnapper for crying out loud.

"This is important Peach. Was it a peck or a more adult kiss?" She's asking again. What does she mean it's important?

Well I'd expect couples to kiss in a more intimate way but I didn't think about it much when I was with Mario. Maybe I do feel a strong affection for him but maybe the source of it is friendship. "It was a peck on the mustache."

Daisy shakes her head. "The mustache doesn't count. Let' say it's just taking a while. What about kisses on the cheek? Has he kissed you?"

"No, I always kiss him as a thank you for..." I pause. It's always as a thank you. My mind begins to wonder to that day we had a picnic. Daisy and Luigi were just pure sugar that day. They were so lovey-dovey with each other it was like a Valentine's Day romance movie special, except it wasn't even Valentine's Day. That's when it hit me. I kissed him on the cheek countless times and on the mustache once or twice but never on the lips. All of those times it had been a thank you for saving me from... from someone who loves me. What an irony.

"What about mystery man?" She's not going to drop the subject that I brought up.

"I haven't kissed him and he hasn't kissed me if that's what you're asking. I just happen to know he likes me."

"Who is he? Don't leave me like this with the doubt!" Daisy really does look tortured. I'm sure she won't have peace of mind until she gets an answer.

"He's different, too different." I'm sure that's not going to be enough to satisfy her curiosity.

"Oh my God you're in love with Yoshi! Well he is kind of cute, don't get me wrong I only like him as a friend but if you like-like him then I'm with you all the way. Both of you totally have my support" I blink and stare. Yoshi? He's a sweet boy, adorable really, but I think of him more like a little brother.

"It's not Yoshi."

"Mallow? Is it Mallow?"

I shake my head.

"Toadofsky?"

Toadofsky, a famous composer. It reminds me of another musician. One that always tells me how much his father cares about me. It gives me an indescribable feeling. I'm happy and sad all at once, it's all just bitter-sweet.

"Aw c'mon tell me? It's not like you like Bowser"

I remain silent and conveniently eat a chocolate bonbon. I can't speak with my mouth full so I can't reply.

"Do you?"

I can't say a word. My mouth is full, remember?

"Peach?"

I nod.

"Why do you look like your kitten died? If you like him and he obviously likes you back should you be happy."

I blink and I stare.

"Maybe it hasn't sunk in yet but I'm still with you" The smile of a best friend can be very reassuring.

"People may be upset," I wish it wasn't so complicated.

"Just like they were upset when we were kids and stole the cookies from the cookie jar but we dealt with it and in the end decided it had been worth it. What will you do?"

I smile. "Steal a few cookies," the first few may be bitter sweet but the last will taste the sweetest.

End of Event 30 


	31. Magical Girl

From damsel in distress to magical girl; secrets are revealed, battles come and go, and love blossoms. BowserxPeach

Vacation

Event 31: Magical Girl

"This war has gone on for too long. As a solution to end it with minimal casualties in the future, I propose we each choose a champion to represent us and let only them do battle."

"A champion... it could be anyone, a soldier of our kingdom, an ally, a hired mercenary..."

"Anyone."

"Very well, these terms are acceptable. Let us elaborate on the new agreement."

xoxox xox xoxox

It was a bright sunny morning in the Mushroom Kingdom when Peach woke up. She noticed a bunny on her large bed. She picked it up, the bunny waking up a bit startled about being suddenly picked up. This wasn't a plushie, it was a real rabbit. A white rabbit, with long white ears that had no pink in the middle, her eyes were black instead of red, and her nose was also black, while the rest of her body was pure white.

"Morning Peachy," the rabbit spoke.

"You can talk!" Ah humans, they tended to state the obvious when it surprises them.

"I guess you can tell I'm no ordinary bunny. I'm actually quite a powerful creature in my home land, not that it'll do you any good because as the deal goes I can't help you fight, I'm only here to guide you." The bunny hopped towards two items she had brought with her which currently lay on the bed. "Take this sapphire brooch, it was purposely made to look like the one you always wear but it has powerful magic in it. I'll help you on your quest, and this scroll will make things clear."

Peach curiously looked at the scroll. It was some kind of contract made long ago. The Mushroom Kingdom was indebt to another land, the monarch of that land having saved the life of Peach's ancestor. As a thank you, her ancestor offered to repay that land called Litdarius.

A possible payment would be to join both kingdoms for mutual benefit, with the union of the prince and princess. Except that for many generations when one kingdom had a prince so did the other and when one had a princess the other did too. Thus the possibility was never carried out.

"It doesn't have to be a marriage," the rabbit pointed out. "In fact, that's not what we need, instead we need a champion, and that champion is you. The dimension of Litdarius has drifted apart from this one and it takes a vast amount of magic just to get here, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was forgotten. But as time passed that name changed to Lightis and the land was later invaded. To make a long story short, there's a war going on and I am a hired mercenary to guide the chosen champion. Defeat your opponent with the magic granted by Lightis and the war ends. That's the deal, Peachy, what do you think?"

"For a debt that happened so long ago to be brought up now... I'm not sure how I feel about that, but none the less, debt or not, the Mushroom Kingdom would never abandon an ally. I'm sure that Mario and Luigi can-"

"No!" The bunny shook her head, "the chosen one is you and it can be no one else. Trust the magic that was granted to you, take the brooch and feel it, turn into a being of Lightis and you'll understand."

"It's too much too fast..." Peach picked up the brooch feeling a mysterious power flowing from it. It felt good; she allowed the power to flow into her and took the form of a being of Lightis. "What in the world?!"

"This is what a Lightis warrior looks like," the bunny explained.

But to Peach it sounded illogical that one would go to battle in such clothing, a tight fitting white outfit with a bright pink short skirt, a pink sailor style collar and matching pink bow. The magic sapphire brooch was in the middle of the bow, its shape magically changed into a heart. She wore heart shaped sapphire earrings, another heart shaped sapphire on her forehead and a white mask lined in pink. Peach's blond hair was pink, in long pigtails that went past her waist, tied with a pair of white ribbons adorned with heart shaped sapphires. "Why would anyone try to fight in such a short skirt?"

"Why would anyone try to play sports in a ball gown?" The bunny rolled her eyes. "Anyway, your opponent might be a guy. This is helpful; you can distract him this way."

"I would prefer not to win using such methods." Peach tugged at the skirt, but it was no use, its length was not going to change.

"Don't be picky, the faster you get this done the better!"

Peach released the power of Lightis and changed back to her normal form. "Why is it that I can control this so easily?"

"Because it was made specifically for you, you can keep it as a gift even after the battle ends. So, will you save Lightis?"

"I don't fully understand what's going on, but yes, I can't just abandon the land of fairy tale angels." Peach had only heard of it as a story, but it seems the story was real after all. "Besides, being a magical girl like in those TV series might be fun, and I have been getting tired of always being the damsel in distress. I have one more question."

"What is it?"

"What's your name?"

"Mithree, one of the seven legendary magical mercenaries."

"So it's just like in the story, and here I thought granny was only kidding when she said it was real." If not for that Peach wouldn't believe it so easily.

"Then you know about the seven mercenaries?"

"Yes," Peach recalled the seven mercenaries that were to keep the balance of the forces of light and darkness in the land of Litdarius, which had according to Mithree been renamed Lightis. "Doone the lion, Retwo the fox, Mithree the bunny, Fafur the cat, Sofiv the bear, Lasix the wolf and Tisev the tiger."

"You're well informed, well then you can get on with your life normally. Just pretend I'm your guest of honor here in the castle and do what you always do. A messenger will come when it's time for battle."

xoxox xox xoxox

A high pitched "You're so cute!" echoed through the Koopa Castle, and possibly throughout all of Dark Land. Wendy O. Koopa spun around with a red fox in her arms.

When she stopped, the dizzy fox let out a soft "finally" that Wendy missed.

"Wendy, where'd you find the fox?" Roy came to tell her to shut up, but instead became curious about the fuzzy red animal.

"He was wandering around the castle, he must have gotten lost." Wendy petted the fox, "I'm going to keep him. Come Fluffy; let's take a bubble bath together."

"Wait a minute! When did you decide the fox was yours?" Roy stood in Wendy's way.

Wendy held the fox protectively. "Since I found him, finders keepers!"

"And losers weepers, you better hand over that fox or else!" Roy threatened.

"Or else what?" Wendy stood firm.

The fox slipped out of Wendy's arms and snuck away while the argument was still going on.

Meanwhile, Bowser had found a mysterious box in front of his bedroom door. The box contained a choker, identical to the one he always wore, and a scroll detailing a debt the Mushroom Kingdom had contracted many generations ago.

"Do you know what that's about?"

Bowser stopped reading the scroll and searched for the source of the sudden voice.

"Down here," the Koopa King looked down to find a red fox. "I'll explain it."

"A talking fox? Who let you in?" Bowser asked.

"No one, I sneaked in to bring you that. To make a long story short, the Land of Litdarius is now renamed Darkus and the Mushroom Kingdom's princess could be engaged to our king, or to any other person the king of Darkus chooses. She could even be engaged to you." The fox hoped for his job to be easy, since Peach should be able to catch Bowser's attention.

But it wasn't that simple. "Peach and I are already married."

"But she's not living here, this could be the final push she needs to move in and make things more official. Besides, wouldn't you marry her all over again?" The fox grinned.

"And you expect me to believe that you represent this Darkus place that used to be Litdarius, that all of this is real, and now you'll ask me for something in exchange for having the king give me Peach?" Bowser found it to be all too predictable.

"Yes, actually, but if you don't believe it that's fine. Do your research, check the ancient contracts kept in the Mushroom Kingdom, test the truthfulness of the scroll by magic, anything. Whatever tests you decide to use, it's all true." The fox sounded confident.

"Fine then, you have a deal. I could just challenge this Darkus king to a fight for Peach's hand, but I'm bored so I'll take the long way around. What do you want? Riches? Land?" An instant win in a very short duel wouldn't entertain him. Besides, for the fox to be so confident then it all had to be true and he really did want to give Peach the little extra push she needed.

"Actually, we want you to win a fight. Your opponent is a champion chosen by the enemies of Darkus. We don't know who it is, but I'm sure you can win. Also since you're representing Darkus, you need to look like a Darkus warrior. That's what the choker is for. It was made especially for you, meant to look like what you always wear to keep it a secret. Go ahead and put it on and you'll see what I mean," the fox explained.

"What's so special about it?" Bowser put on the new choker, it looked normal but it felt unusual. He allowed its power to flow through him and changed into a vampire like being. His hair and eyes were still red, but his body was human-like, except his skin was an unhealthy pale, he had long fangs sticking out from the corners of his mouth and he still had claws. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a cape; black leather boots that didn't match the tuxedo look, the choker had change into a spiked metal bowtie similar to his spiked bracelets, that didn't quite match the tuxedo look either. Bowser walked over to his mirror and stared at his reflection. "I looked better before! Besides, who fights dressed like this?"

"It's a disguise; part of the deal is keeping your identity a secret," the fox explained.

"Why?"

"Because!"

"Why?"

"Doesn't it sound logical?"

"Not really," but then again, none of this sounded logical to Bowser. Yet there he was, doing what a fox was telling him to do, if only to cure his boredom, and for the possibility that it might work and Peach would move in with him.

"Well, it's more fun that way," the fox nodded to himself. "Anyway, you should get on with your life; a messenger will come when it's time for battle. I'll just hang around the castle, don't mind me."

Bowser changed back to his normal form just in time, because Wendy arrived soon after. "King Dad have you seen a fox? Oh, there you are!" Wendy picked up the fox. "It's time for breakfast; Kammy is calling us so let's take that bubble bath after breakfast, okay Fluffy?"

"Fluffy?" Bowser laughed at the name. "A talking fox called Fluffy?" Bowser had heard plenty of silly pet names, but he would assume that if animals could speak, they would complain about those stupid names.

"Talking fox?" Wendy blinked; then looked at the fox in her arms.

"The name's Retwo, but you can call me anything you want, princess. So let's go have breakfast so we can take that bubble bath, okay?" The fox licked Wendy's face, while the koopa princess was shocked.

"Pervert!" Wendy screamed, tossing Retwo into the air.

Retwo gracefully landed on Bowser's bed. "Temper, temper, but it's okay, you're cute when you're mad."

"I'm going to kill you!" Ignoring her father's presence, Wendy started chasing Retwo around and breathing fire everywhere.

After watching the antics for a few minutes, Bowser snatched Retwo up by the tail. "You can kill him after I'm done with him."

"But King Dad, why do you want a fox?" Wendy complained, ignoring the spreading flames behind her.

Bowser was looking forward to his re-marriage with Peach, and the ray of hope the sneaky fox had brought, so he didn't really care about the fire either. Besides, he was so used to the destruction of the koopalings that nothing amazed him anymore, and that was perhaps the reason for his boredom. "Not as a bath sponge."

xoxox xox xoxox

"What happened to you? What happened? What happened? What happened?" Morton asked while poking Roy.

Roy was sporting several fresh scratches and a foul mood. "Shut up or I'll show you what happened!"

Morton recoiled and went off to annoy Ludwig who had the best table manners out of the entire Koopa family, and possibly the largest supply of patience, not that it made a difference when it came to Morton.

"Please be quiet and cease that annoying behavior," and by annoying behavior Ludwig meant Morton's insistent poking, which was almost as bad as his motor mouth.

Retwo was sitting on Bowser's shoulder, at first Kammy thought it was some kind of fox scarf, which needless to say would be an odd thing for Bowser to wear, but then she realized the fox was alive. That fox had promised not only new hope for the Peach situation, but also a cure for Bowser's boredom, thus he would have to keep it safe from Wendy until he obtained both.

"Your new pet..." It was hard to determine if Kammy as asking, stating, or simply talking to herself.

"No, no," Retwo jumped on the table. "I'm the guest of honor!"

"You're going to be a fox stake if you don't get off the table," Bowser warned.

Retwo hoped into Junior's chair, which was too big for him anyway, leaving enough space for the fox. "I didn't know you ate foxes... That's not fox bacon is it?"

"I've never had fox before, don't give me any reasons to start," Bowser turned his attention back to his breakfast.

"I would be very happy to roast it for you," Wendy offered, glaring icily at Retwo.

Retwo was about to counter Wendy's comment with a flirty, 'you don't need fire to make me hot, princess' but his survival instinct kicked in and he remained silent.

Junior occupied himself petting the fox. "King Dad, can I play with your pet?"

"Guest of honor," Retwo corrected.

"I should be the one to keep the fox!" Roy complained.

"I want to play with it too!" Larry added.

"Me too!" Lemmy agreed.

"I want to tell it stories, it can talk so it can understand words, so I want to tell it all kinds of stories!" Retwo cringed at the thought of Morton, the most talkative koopaling, torturing his ears with his endless tales.

"You can all get a turn to do whatever you want with the fox after I'm done with it," Bowser decided and Retwo pouted.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mithree was enjoying a plate full of maple syrup, which Toadsworth couldn't help it but to complain about, while he accompanied Peach and her guest during breakfast, whom he thought was Peach's new pet. "I must say, so much sugar is not healthy for a rabbit. Honestly Peach, I thought you would know better. A rabbit must eat fresh vegetables and water, nothing else!"

"I don't tell you what to eat grandpa!" Mithree spoke, causing Toadsworth to nearly choke on his pancakes.

"She spoke!" Mushrooms, they too liked to state the obvious when it surprised them.

"Mithree is my guest, she's..." Peach saw Mithree shake her head when Toadsworth wasn't looking, her true identity needed to remain a secret. "She's a friend."

"I see, my apologies Miss Mithree," the old Mushroom was quite embarrassed to have assumed that a guest was actually a pet.

"It's fine," Mithree paid Toadsworth no mind and continued drinking her maple syrup. She was no ordinary rabbit so Peach didn't question her eating habits.

xoxox xox xoxox

Later that morning a purple cat with a large constant grin, snuck into Peach's room while the princess was talking to Mithree about the details of her mission that were known so far, though her opponent's identity still remained a mystery. The cat carried a scroll which he delivered to Peach. "Here's the battle location," the cat chuckled.

"Fafur, what's so funny about this? You always grin like that when you're up to something." Mithree gave him a suspicious look.

"Nothing, nothing," Fafur shook his head.

"And you expect me to believe that?" Mithree hissed.

Fafur's grin grew, "all in good time my dears."

"We'll figure it out," this was one of those moments when Peach longed for adventure. "Whatever is being hidden from us, we'll find out."

"Indeed, indeed," Fafur laughed. "You two are so similar in that way." Without elaborating on what he meant by 'that way', Fafur left, exiting via the window.

xoxox xox xoxox

That same purple cat also visited Bowser and delivered another scroll. The scroll only detailed the place and time where the battle would occur and not the opponent; not that Bowser cared anyway because he was confident he would win.

At the agreed time and place, two thirty pm at the desert fields of Land's End, Bowser arrived in his disguise, and Peach managed to sneak out of the Mushroom Kingdom and be there as well, also in her disguise.

Retwo and Mithree glared daggers at each other. "You're going down," she assured him.

"You don't stand a chance," Retwo confidently replied.

"Here are the rules," Fafur jumped down from a palm tree. "You may fight using only sand. Breaking the rules means an automatic loss. The objective is to knock down your opponent. You may begin!"

"Sand..." Bowser repeated in disbelief. "I'm supposed to use sand to fight? But how is that even possible?!"

Peach was starting to feel like a secret super hero, and it felt pretty good. "He said we can start." Peach warned her opponent, having no idea he was Bowser in disguise.

"Yeah, but how are we suppose to-" -cough- The pink haired girl had thrown a handful of sand at her opponent, and quite frankly, sand tasted pretty bad. "You're going to pay for that!" Bowser grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at Peach, but she dodged out of the way. He kept chasing after her and throwing sand.

"Go! Go! Go! Get her! Yeah! Don't worry Pink, I'll console you after you lose the battle, babe!" Retwo cheered.

Mithree couldn't call her Peach, so for now Pink would do. "Fight back Pink!"

"Easier said than done!" The shortness of her skit still concerned Peach, but this was a battle and she would lose if she didn't do something quick. She spun around and kicked up as much sand as she could.

Bowser stumbled backwards taken by surprise by the sudden attack; he stepped on his cape and fell back.

"Round one goes to Lightis!" Fafur announced.

Mithree hopped around and cheered, "we won! We won!"

"You got lucky!" Retwo grumbled.

"That doesn't count!" Bowser argued.

"Don't be a sore loser," Peach made a victory pose like the magical girls on TV.

"I tripped, you didn't win!" Bowser continued to complain.

"Enough!" Fafur raised his paw, "the battle is over, point for Lightis, no more arguments. You may both retire; I will inform you of the next fight," Fafur teleported away.

"Let's go Pink," Mithree teleported herself and Peach back to the Mushroom Kingdom, leaving only Bowser and Retwo.

"That sucked, but at least I got to watch that girl fight in a mini skirt, shall we head back to Dark Land now?" Retwo asked.

"It's rigged!" Bowser yelled; then paused, an interesting detail coming to his attention. "You can teleport too? Why didn't you teleport me here?"

"Because getting to the place of the battle on time is part of the challenge and I can't help you with that. But the fight is over so I can teleport you back," Retwo explained.

xoxox xox xoxox

After the fight, Bowser was left in a bad mood and only one person in the entire world could fix that, his beloved Peach. He couldn't wait to see her, but sand was dripping out of his shell when he changed back so he took a shower first; then went to kidnap Peach.

Meanwhile, Peach had already cleaned herself up, when she changed back she was covered in sand, there was sand in her hair, there was sand in her dress, there was sand in her shoes, and there was sand everywhere. After a bath she had just finished drying her hair and putting on fresh makeup when Bowser arrived.

The kidnapping went as usual: Bowser taking Peach and making a get away, Peach calling for help, panicked mushroom guards running around in circles, and a stressed Toadsworth making an emergency call to the Mario brothers. Like always, Peach was taken to her room in the Koopa Castle and the day progressed normally.

In the evening, Fafur arrived with the announcement of round two. The cat, grinning even more if that was even possible, delivered the two scrolls to Peach and Bowser respectively without the other's knowledge.

"This is all so suspicious," Peach looked over the scroll. The first fight had not been as much as an all out battle as she expected. It didn't feel like a she was representing an entire country trying to win a war. This was more like playing a round in some strange game show.

"Do the magical girls in the stories ever question their quests?" Mithree teleported into Peach's room.

The princess jumped in surprise. "You startled me; don't appear out of nowhere like that. And no, the magical girls in the stories don't question their quests, but those are just TV shows and comics, this is life."

"In that case investigate; you'll find that it's all true. Of course it would be a bit hard to continue with this if Toadsworth knew; he might think it's too dangerous. Which is also another reason why you hardly question what's going on, because you like playing the role of secret magical girl super hero, am I right, or am I right?" Mithree laughed victoriously.

"Okay, fine, you read me like a book," Peach admitted. "According to this, the place of the next fight is Tadpole Pond and the time is in less than an hour!"

"Getting there is your job, I can teleport you back but I can't provide transportation from the time you receive the battle announcement until the fight ends," Mithree reminded her.

"That might be a little hard since I'm locked in, but maybe I can trick Bowser into letting me out..." Peach tried to come up with a plan.

Mithree smiled mischievously, "piece of cake, just flirt with him a little and he'll do whatever you say."

"I can't do that!" Peach blushed.

"Sure you can!" Mithree continued to encourage her.

But Peach shook her head. "No, I'll just ask nicely and hope for the best." She tried to open the door but as expected, it was locked. "Hello, is there a guard out there?"

The door was opened by a blond koopa troopa with a yellow shell. "Yes, Princess, do you need anything?" he asked.

"I would like to speak to Bowser." Needless to say, Peach's request and the tone she used for it came as a surprise.

"Yes of course! Please wait in your room!" After locking the door again, Keres, the koopa troopa, ran off to find Bowser.

xoxox xox xoxox

Bowser was very surprised that Peach had called him and he ran to her as fast as he could, ignoring Retwo's protests. The Koopa King opened the door to Peach's room and found her waiting for him with a somewhat forced smile and a hint of guilt reflected in her eyes, but at least she was smiling. "Did you miss me?"

Peach breathed deeply, this was for the good of Lightis and for the good of her secret magical girl persona. "Yes, I was thinking we could go out for a walk together."

Bowser's face brightened with happiness. Forget Darkus, Peach was far more important, and if he could win her heart himself, which was the way he preferred it, then she wouldn't need that extra push. "Yes! We'll go on a date wherever you want."

Peach fought to keep her smile up, "just a walk for now, okay? It's a really hot day so I want to go someplace cool... How about Tadpole Pond?"

A swamp would be more humid than cool, plus it wasn't exactly what Bowser would call a romantic place. "We could go to the beach and cool off there, or a pool."

Peach batted her eyelashes like Mithree had told her to, and tried her best to hide her guilt. "I thought you said we could go where ever I wanted."

That was all it took for Bowser to melt and allow Peach to shape him into anything she wanted. "Anything for you, if you want to go to Tadpole Pond, then we'll go to Tadpole Pond!"

After Peach and Bowser left, Mithree came out from under the bed. "All goes as planned," she teleported to Tadpole Pond to wait for them.

xoxox xox xoxox

The frogs and tadpoles were very surprised to see Peach and Bowser arrive at their pond. Some tadpoles curiously approached the edge of the pond. Bowser wouldn't take his eyes off Peach so she used an old and simple trick, "what's that?" She pointed into the distance, causing each frog and tadpole to look.

Bowser glanced at the spot where Peach pointed then looked back at her before she could escape. "Where?"

Peach sighed, "never mind, I think it was just another tadpole swimming around." She spotted Mithree hopping around behind Bowser. The bunny covered her eyes then blew kisses. Peach blushed at the idea and shook her head.

"What is it?" Bowser looked back but Mithree hopped away and hid before he could see her. He quickly looked at his beloved Peach, not wanting to take his eyes off her.

It seemed that Peach had no choice, but she couldn't go as far as Mithree suggested. "Bowser, close your eyes for a moment..."

"Close my eyes? Why?" Bowser asked.

Again Peach looked all cute, batted her eye lashes and smiled, "you'll find out soon."

Bowser felt his heart beat faster. Could it be that his beloved Peach was going to kiss him? He closed his eyes and anxiously waited.

Peach quietly snuck away and magically changed into her Lightis warrior disguise hidden in the bushes. Mithree came out of hiding, "just in time, a few more minutes and if the vampire doesn't show up you'll win by default!"

"Let's hope he doesn't come, I feel bad about tricking Bowser. The least I can do is go back as soon as possible," Peach replied.

Meanwhile Bowser was waiting for Peach, waiting, and waiting... "She's not here anymore." Bowser opened his eyes to find Retwo. "You've been tricked and at this rate you'll miss the fight. Clearly you really need to give Peach that extra push!"

"I'm starting to picture a fox steak right now..." Bowser warned him.

"Hey, don't lose your temper; I'm just saying you're late. Whatever, I'm out of here," Retwo teleported away.

"Come back here!" Bowser yelled, but it was too late. The Koopa King changed to his vampire form and went to face his opponent again.

Fafur arrived again to signal the start of the battle. "Both of you choose a lily-pad and stand on it." It was odd, but Peach and Bowser complied, each hoping on to a lily-pad floating in the pond. Somehow the lily-pads supported their weight and they floated. "Your objective is to push your opponent into the water. You may not throw anything or use any weapons. Begin!" Fafur and Mithree watched from the shore while Pink and Vampire, as they had been nicknamed, tried to push each other off the lily-pads.

The fight did not last long. Peach and Bowser hoped from one lily-pad to another, getting closer to each other, then finally they jumped on the same lily-pad. Before either could push the other off, unable to support their combined weight, the lily-pad sunk and they fell into the water.

"It's a tie!" Fafur announced, "half a point for Lightis and half a point for Darkus! Well that's a wrap, see ya in round three!" Fafur teleported away.

"If you would have won it would have been over, but it's not too bad. If you win round three it'll be the end, try your best Pink! See ya later!" Since Peach already had a way to return with Bowser, Mithree teleported ahead without her.

Peach and Bowser swam to shore still in their disguises and laid on the edge of the pond to rest for a moment. "Why are you fighting?" Peach asked.

Bowser didn't expect his opponent to talk to him; she had left very quickly last time. He could rid himself of the competition easily, but he had quickly developed a sort of rivalry with the pink haired girl that made him want to beat her fairly. "To help someone see the truth, what about you?"

"To repay someone else's debt from long ago, but mostly because I wanted an adventure," Peach admitted.

"Yeah, I was bored too," Bowser agreed.

"What did you mean when you said you wanted to help someone see the truth?"

"I can't tell you that, you ask too many things for someone who's supposed to be my enemy."

"I'm not your enemy, and somehow it doesn't feel like you're my enemy either. We're only representing opposite sides, that's all. Well, I really have to leave now, goodbye." Peach ran off, she had kept Bowser waiting long enough.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Bowser!" He had not been where Peach left him, but she knew he wouldn't leave without her.

"Peach, where did you go? Why are you wet? Where's my kiss?" Bowser was also wet, a fact that Peach pointed out, to which he replied, "I fell in the pond."

It was logical and mostly believable, so Peach used the same excuse as well, "me too."

"Then we should go back before you catch a cold... and the kiss?"

"Let's just go back for now." Peach avoided the subject, though she felt bad for the tricks.

xoxox xox xoxox

Later that night, Fafur arrived with another message and the two scrolls were separately delivered to Bowser and Peach.

"According to this, an exception will be made and you can teleport me to the location of the round three fight," Peach had just finished reading her scroll.

"Okay, just tell me where to go I've been all over this world in preparation to guide the Lightis champion," Mithree was ready to go, despite it being the middle of the night.

xoxox xox xoxox

The snow felt softly on the wooden roof, covering it in white. The stars were shining brightly and there was a full moon. Many lamps provided extra light in the mountain of snow.

Peach stood at the top in her disguise, next to a sleepy Bowser also in his disguise, both still unaware of who the other really was. They were both wearing skis. As usual Fafur served as the referee. "The third round is a race down the mountain. You are not allowed to interfere with your opponent in any way. On your marks, get set, go!"

Peach and Bowser raced down the mountain and after they were gone, a blue wolf teleported to the top of the mountain were Fafur, Retwo and Mithree were. "This could be the last round if Lightis wins. It's time for plan B." The wolf disappeared just as quickly as it came.

Fafur teleported to the base of the mountain while Retwo and Mithree rapidly teleported to Peach and Bowser and secretly caused them to trip. They rolled down the mountain trapped inside snow balls until they reached the bottom. "Point for Darkus, it's a tie, one and a half points for each. Because of this we'll have to play an extra round." Peach and Bowser crawled out of the snow balls, too out of it from all the spinning to protest, and Fafur continued. "You've tied the three rounds as the warriors of Lightis and Darkus, because of that it is concluded that you are even as magical warriors. However, you must prove your worth with your secret identities, show us your bravery."

The blue wolf appeared again, surprising Peach and Bowser. "I am Lasix, Fafur and I each will follow one of you in secret. You won't even know we're there since we have not only the power of teleportation, but also invisibility. Your mission is to show your courage by expressing what you feel. We happen to know that you both have someone you like, tell that person how you feel and get a kiss. The first one to do it wins. The guardians will not be allowed to provide any help until the extra round is over and neither of you is allowed to interfere with the opponent, but that is no problem since your identities are still a secret to each other. You may begin!" Lasix and Fafur disappeared but this time they faded away instead of vanishing in a blur of colors.

"They must have become invisible," Peach concluded.

"I don't want an audience but it's okay for this once. I'll definitely win," Bowser certainly hoped so. Not so much because of the victory of Darkus but to get a kiss from Peach.

"We'll see about that," Peach and Bowser ran off in opposite directions.

xoxox xox xoxox

"All I have to do is find a warp pipe out of Ice Land and back to the Mushroom Kingdom, or even Dark Land since Mario must already be nearly there." Peach had removed her disguise and currently walked through the empty halls of the ski resort that had been reserved for the competition.

"Or you could just kiss Bowser, that's an easy win. Anyway, I can't turn invisible like Fafur and Lasix, my other special power besides teleportation is different so I'll take a break. Fafur will keep you company even if you can't see him." Mithree pointed at an empty spot, or at least it looked empty to Peach.

"You can see Fafur?"

"Not quite, but all the legendary mercenaries can feel each other's presence so I know exactly were he is. See ya later!" Mithree hopped away.

xoxox xox xoxox

"Phone, phone... I need a phone, if this didn't happen in the middle of the night, I wouldn't have forgotten my cellphone." Bowser only hoped that his army could hold off the Mario brothers long enough for him to return to Dark Land. His plan was to call Kamek and have him pick him up via teleportation. Retwo couldn't help him, but it didn't mean someone else couldn't. It was that, or find a warp pipe, which ever could be accomplished faster.

"You don't need me around for this. Lasix will be with you, I'm going to see if I can find a cutie to flirt with." Retwo ran off before Bowser could even reply.

Several minutes later, Bowser saw a familiar princess walking down the hall in the opposite direction. Bowser and Peach stopped and looked at each other in surprise. "What are you doing here?" They asked at the same time.

"I can answer that." A mushroom woman with a red and white stripped mushroom jumped out from behind a potted plant. "It's obvious you intended to meet here in secret for some romance." Mint T. had been told that if she arranged everything at the resort she would get some action. "Now go, a room has been prepared for you, with a nice fireplace, hot cocoa, and all that stuff. I'll leave you alone now." Mint T. didn't wait for a reply; she just dashed to the nearest exit.

There was a catch... of course there was a catch, because with Mint T. there was always a catch. Massive iron walls came closing down, encasing the resort. The beeping of electronics was heard and a peculiar feeling, like magic, filled the atmosphere. It was a triple lock, the regular walls plus the iron ones forming a physical barrier, the high tech force field and the magical barrier forming two more obstacles, just in case the first wasn't enough. It was strength, science and magic, to put it simply, escaping was an impossibility.

"We're trapped," Peach sighed; at this rate she would fail her mission as a magical girl.

Normally Bowser would be angry at Mint T. but maybe this once she could be forgiven. "At least we have the resort to ourselves. He peeked into the room Mint T. mentioned and considered taking some things and moving to a different part of the resort because there were probably cameras there, but Mint T. might have anticipated that and hidden cameras everywhere. Plus Lasix was there, but the wolf had been so quiet Bowser nearly forgot about him.

Peach knew there was no escape until Mint T. let them out, and she was feeling frustrated. She went into the room Mint T. had prepared and looked around. There were no visible cameras, but she knew they must be there, and everything was set up for romance. "Why am I always getting kidnapped or trapped?"

"I don't kidnap you, I save you!" Bowser sounded as if he actually believed that. "I love you!" There was that special something, about being a magical boy that made him believe he could and would accomplish anything with ease, but it wasn't happening.

"Regardless of what you say, I'm the final judge of that." Peach went to sit in front of the fire and picked up a cup of cocoa, watching the marshmallow float in the chocolaty liquid.

Peach was upset, and Bowser somehow knew it wasn't only because of being trapped in the resort. In the end, nothing he did would make their relationship prosper unless she wanted it to. It wasn't only his effort that counted, she had to contribute too. "The deal is off," Bowser whispered in a barely audible tone. It was meant so that only Lasix would hear and not Peach. In the end, even if Peach did receive that 'little push' it wouldn't do anything if she didn't want to go with it.

"Bowser, how did you end up here?" Peach curiously asked.

This was supposed to be a secret, but Bowser didn't want to lie to Peach. Then he realized something, she didn't really need to be rescued from Darkus in any way. "I made a deal with someone that would end up with us getting engaged. I want to marry you again, but make it a real wedding this time. But I guess you don't need that. If that king comes after you, I could save you... or you could just refuse him." Peach did not like things to be decided for her, and Bowser realized that maybe, that was what got in their way. "In the end it really is your choice."

"Right, I'm glad you understand it," because sometimes Peach felt that no one understood, but at least Bowser did. She wanted a break from doing what was expected from her, and even while playing her role as the princess, she did set certain limits. They stayed in front of the fire and eventually fell asleep; they had been taken to the mountain in the middle of the night after all.

The next morning the security system was disabled but no one came in. Bowser and Peach concluded that Mint T. must have been waiting for them to leave not to be caught. Though they wanted to catch the troublesome reporter, they knew that wouldn't be happening on that occasion and returned to Dark Land after finding a warp pipe.

Upon his arrival, Bowser received the report that Mario and Luigi were almost there. The Koopa Troop could not hold them off for too long. But that was not the most surprising news. The mysterious arrival of a rabbit woman and a fox man had soon led to a war between the koopalings. The bunny and fox got into an argument and the koopalings ended up taking sides.

"Okay, that's it, I'll end this now!" The bunny woman had pure white hair, though she was young, bunny ears and a fluffy bunny tail. The man had bright red hair, fox ears and a fox tail. They both wore impossibly tight black leather that could only be described as very distracting.

"I know that voice," Peach recognized the rabbit woman. "Mithree! Was this your special power?"

"You got it, pretty cool, huh?" Mithree gave a victory sign. "This is the power Retwo and I hold, but I'm the better mercenary!"

"No way! I'm the best out of the seven!" Retwo argued. Wendy was currently clinging to him like a rabid fan girl, she had seemingly forgotten all about her original plan to kill him.

"That's enough!" A golden lion teleported there, "you two are always fighting and blowing things out of proportion. Bowser, Peach, my apologies; Tisev found out about this and informed me. The truth is that, though the land of Litdarius has been split into Darkus and Lightis, it is still peaceful. I, Doone, leader of the seven mercenaries and king of Darkus have no intentions of claiming that old debt, thus the Mushroom Kingdom may be considered free of it. Tisev who rules over Lightis has agreed to this as well. Retwo and Mithree, return home at once, Sofiv made cookies and she wishes to share them with you. You know how she believes that cookies solve everything." At this point Doone rolled his eyes. "Go now!"

Retwo and Mithree grumbled and teleported away, which caused Wendy to complain about Retwo being gone and several of the oldest male koopalings, except Ludwig because he's way too sophisticated, to complain about Mithree's absence.

"Well then, we should get going too," Lasix reappeared, as did Fafur. "Keep the magical items as gifts." They teleported away and Doone followed.

"That didn't just happen..." Peach shook her head.

"I can't believe this, it was all an argument between those two?" Bowser should have known there was something strange about all this. "Wait a minute... does that mean?"

"You finally figured it out too?" Peach knew what Bowser would say. "I guess there's no use in denying it," Peach whispered. "The girl with pink hair was me, but don't tell anyone, and I'll keep your secret too."

Peach and Bowser snuck away while the koopalings argued. The sounds of explosions, alarms and general battle noises were heard, indicating that Mario and Luigi were in the castle, and Bowser was not pleased with the plumbers' arrival. He wondered what all of this was for, what came out of it and if things were inevitably left the same way in the long run. Then again, sleeping next to Peach in front of the fireplace was something that Bowser would never forget.

"Bowser," Peach whispered, if she had learned anything from Mithree, it was how to be a little bit rebellious, if only just a little bit. "I like being a magical girl so I'm not going to stop. Now that our battle is over I'll try to help people, you know like those magical super heroes on TV. You have a secret identity too..."

"Are you asking me to go with you?" Sure Bowser was more into the villain image than the hero image, but Peach had a valid point, he did have a secret identity so why not put it to use? Besides, if it was to spend time with Peach, Bowser would do anything.

"If you want to..."

"Do I even need to answer that?"

"Then I'll call you and we can come up with some names and other details."

A short time later, as it always happened; Peach was rescued and safely returned to the Mushroom Kingdom and it truly looked as if nothing had ever changed, but there was so much that had...

xoxox xox xoxox

"Keep trying, you're almost there!" Peach, or Sailor Pink as her secret magical girl identity was called, cheered for Tuxedo Vampire, known as Bowser when he wasn't in disguise.

Koopas were not made to climb trees, and even if a koopa didn't look like a koopa due to a magical disguise, they were still not made to climb trees. But Peach's lovely voice cheering for him was priceless, so Bowser tried his very best to reach the kitten that got stuck in a tree in the Mushroom Park, stupid cat.

"You're almost-ah!" Peach was startled seeing Bowser slip off the branch, but he didn't fall, instead he floated flapping a pair of miniature bat wings on his back, until he landed safely.

He couldn't really fly up, but at least he could slow his fall. It was part of the evolution of being a magical boy. "If these wings were bigger I could just fly up there and get the cat."

The little old mushroom lady who owned the kitten, pushed up her glasses up out of habit and inquired, "why is it that Sailor Pink never flies during the heroic missions if her angel wings are fully grown?"

Peach in fact had a pair of angelical wings that appeared along with the rest of her costume. It was in a way, a level up in her power. She had managed to level up faster than Bowser by putting her heart into her heroic missions, even if they weren't exactly glamorous, while Bowser was mostly in it for Peach, but he tried so he was slowly gaining more power as well.

"Well, that's because..." Peach looked down at her mini skirt, it was not the best thing to wear while flying. "I don't really know how to fly yet." She traced circles on the ground with her pink healed boot. "Tuxedo Vampire, please try to help the kitten get down again!"

"Do I have to?" Bowser complained, but Peach knew he would do it, because he always did everything she asked.

"Yes," she nodded.

Bowser was about to climb back up the tree, when in a rush of irony, the kitten got down on its own and calmly walked back to its owner.

Such were the missions they ended up performing, quite different from the adventures on TV. But a real adventure full of close calls was about to begin, when a mysterious enemy threatened to destroy the world, planet, galaxy, universe, and so on, so forth.

It was during a very special dinner that the enemies chose to manifest themselves in a reflection on the soup, a magical image that only Peach and Bowser could see and hear. "Try to stop me, Sailor Pink," the shadow in Peach's soup spoke. "If you can't, then your precious friend Toad is doomed!"

Bowser was there as well, because what was so special about that dinner was that the Mushroom King had invited him over in hopes of finding out if the rumors were truth about Peach running off with Bowser every time she disappeared at random at any and all given hours. Toadsworth was particularly nervous about the possibility and kept muttering to himself all throughout dinner.

"Come stop me if you dare, Tuxedo Vampire! Princess Wendy shall be forever stolen away! Mwahahaha!" Bowser's soup threatened. At first the Koopa King only blinked and whispered to Peach, "is soup supposed to talk here?"

"No, it's not," Peach replied.

Then Bowser looked at his soup, it looked normal again, just a regular appetizer. But why would soup want to steal Wendy was beyond him.

Peach dropped her spoon on purpose with an innocent sounding "oops" and went literally under the ridiculously long table of the Mushroom Kingdom dinning room, supposedly to pick it up. She crawled all the way to the door at the end and snuck out.

Toadsworth was too focused on his worries to see Peach leave and the Mushroom King either didn't notice, or pretended not to notice. Then coincidentally Bowser also dropped his spoon and snuck under the table, lifting it with his shell but by a miracle he didn't break it. "Earthquake! Earthquake!" Toadsworth was taken by surprise and went under the table for safety, while the Mushroom King laughed in amusement.

Peach had transformed into Sailor Pink and rushed over to Toad, who was contently walking towards one of the guest rooms with a plate full of sugar and another full of strawberries. "Toad, are you alright?"

"Oh my goodness!" Toad squealed.

"What is it?" Peach looked all around for any possible dangers but found none.

"Sailor Pink! Can I have your autograph?" Toad set the tray of food on the stairs and dashed off to find pen and paper.

That left a very confused Peach standing there. As Tuxedo Vampire arrived, Sailor Pink eyed the food suspiciously. "I have a feeling someone is back..."

Toad returned with pen and paper, "oh my gosh! Tuxedo Vampire is here too! Can I have your autograph too?"

After the autographs were given, Peach and Bowser followed Toad to the guest room where they confirmed that Toad was delivering sugar for Mithree and strawberries for Retwo. Both of them were in their human-like forms.

"This magic mirror we borrowed from Tisev is the coolest, Tisev has the best toys," Mithree giggled. "It can be used to communicate with anything, even soup."

"By borrowed it means, to borrow without permission. But it's alright, I'll just charm my way out of trouble if needed." Retwo ate his strawberries as if he was posing for an imaginary camera.

It was later found out that Mithree and Retwo were sent back to that world because of how troublesome those two were. But excuses aside, Bowser and Peach had stayed away from the dinner for too long to pretend they couldn't find their spoons under the table.

When they returned with their normal appearance, the Mushroom King was calmly enjoying the main course, having assumed they were not coming back, and Toadsworth was on the verge of having a nervous break down. "Did you have fun?" The Mushroom King asked with a mischievous smile. Peach wasn't sure how to take the question, let alone how to answer it.

End of Event 31

Disclaimer, I don't own Super Mario, Petshop of Horrors, Alice in Wonderland or Sailor Moon. There's a small reference to the first episode of the Petshop of Horrors anime in a quote from Toadsworth. The character Fafur was based on the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland.


	32. Guilty Pleasure

Peach enjoys reading a good book accompanied by a box of chocolates.

Vacation

Event 32: Guilty Pleasure

Peach's POV

I take another chocolate and savor its taste. Today I have the afternoon off from my royal duties and I'm not expecting any visitors. It's the perfect time to indulge in a guilty pleasure like reading a good book. Why the guilt over a book? Because it's a stolen book from an author I should not like.

It's sweet, It's sweeter than the chocolaty candies I enjoy eating while reading it. Sweeter than candy, a clich? a common phrase, but this is not so common. Who would have thought that I would do such a thing? I couldn't help it, it's a guilty pleasure, very guilty but most pleasant.

I sigh. "I'm a thief." He might have written that I stole his heart but I certainly hope he hasn't noticed that I stole something else. Well, I didn't really steal it I just borrowed it without permission. Really, if he didn't want me to read his diary he should hide it better. At the end of the walk in closet, behind countless shells, under a box full of spiked chokers and bracelets, isn't a very good hiding place. Not that I was sneaking around his room or anything.

It's perfectly normal to become addicted to a book every now and then. It's perfectly normal to read it until you've consumed the last page. But what if part of that book is blank? Then I'll have to continue reading when the words are written. I hope he isn't too upset to find his diary missing. I'll put it back next time he kidnaps me. Bowser's castle has a lot of secret passages and I'm starting to discover many. I wonder if he even knows about them? He must know about some but I don't think he knows about all of them.

He's a good poet. I guess only a true poet can recite a haiku when we're steps away from a dangerous battle. I remember staring at him for a full minute back then while everyone else was distracted by one thing or another. I don't think they even heard. When he looked at me I pretended not to notice but I was surprised. All of this that was written for me... I'll have to get him to read it to me some day it would be more special that way.

What am I saying? I'm Peach Toadstool, princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. I shouldn't be reading what my enemy writes, but I can't stop. This is my pleasure, my guilty pleasure.

End of Event 32

This one is based on Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, where Bowser recites a Haiku before the battle with Smithy. Written for Razzi's challenge. Disclaimer, I do not own Bowser, Peach or the Mario games. 


	33. Stalking the Prince

The nosy mushroom reporter who likes to cause scandals, Mint T., is finally taking a break from stalking Bowser and Peach. Now she's off to stalk Ludwig.

Vacation

Event 33: Stalking the Prince

The lakitu cloud approached the window, while chain chops continued chasing the many girls on the ground bellow. Several had climbed towards the window and others were fortunate enough to be able to fly. "Knock them down!" She ordered her trembling hostage.

The lakitu nodded in fear and threw spinies at the other girls.

The cloud finally reached the window and she let herself in. Borrowing a lakitu cloud with the lakitu to prevent it from dissolving in seconds was a genius idea. It was borrowing really, asking for a little help, because kidnapping was Bowser's area even if he stopped doing that after he officially married Peach. Besides, the girl let the lakitu go, and no assistance from plumbers was needed.

She giggled, who needs those tiny pet shop turtles when she could have the crown prince of the koopas as her pet? She petted his blue hair and watched him sleep. "Ludwig... I'll pet you, and feed you, and hug you, and take you out for walks and... and..." Prince Ludwig Von Koopa woke up to the sound of a squeal and "you're so cute!" and was promptly glomped.

"May I inquire who you are," Ludwig struggled to breathe, "and why you are in my private quarters?"

The girl was about to introduce herself, but a mushroom person jumped out from under the bed and interrupted, taking pictures. "Oh the scandal! The scandal! Who is this young lady found with the koopa prince? And he's not even wearing his shell!" Mint T. failed to mention that Ludwig was instead wearing blue pajamas with little black musical note decorations, but she loves those half truths that could be misinterpreted.

"You can call me Ciryl and Ludwig is my pet," the girl grinned.

"Your pet huh? Oh yes, this is even better, unexpected news, dark secrets and more!" Mint T. laughed like a maniac.

Ludwig simply stared, twitched and struggled to get free, while the girl let a "huh?" escape. "Actually he's my pet, as in my pet... you know, um... my pet, as in not my secret lover." Ciryl tried to explain.

Mint T.'s eyes seemed to glow mischievously, "your pet, right..."

Ciryl nodded; all she wanted was a cute and original pet. Cats and dogs were cool, but turtles were a little more original and dragons were a rarity. Why not have both; and a prince to boot? Ciryl shrugged, "whatever."

"You intend to allow Mint T. to tarnish both our reputations?" Ludwig asked in disbelief.

Ciryl looked indifferent, "there's no scandal to sell if no one is scandalized about it, right?"

Mint. T. pouted and stomped her feet. "But, but, but... You can't do this to me!" Mint T. had become obsessed with finding the latest scoops, to the point where many began to question her sanity. But her ratings were high and her news articles were sold like hot cakes, so it would cause a riot if she was fired. "Okay that's it!" Mint T, pointed at Ciryl, long candy stripped painted nail glimmering glossily. "You're an evil witch trying to steal away the prince!"

"I'm not an evil witch," though Ciryl couldn't deny the last part, "but I am trying to steal... er I mean kidnap, no wait, borrow, yes, borrow. I want to borrow Ludwig."

"I am not an item to be borrowed!" Ludwig complained.

"It's too late for excuses! This report goes out in a few minutes," Mint T. ran out of the room laughing mad scientist style.

"Wait!" Ludwig tried to chase her but was still being held in place by the mysterious fan girl, Ciryl.

"Let her go, it's too late anyway. By the time we catch her, the news will be all over the place." Ciryl played with her new pet's hair, "you have pretty hair... so cute!" and glomped him again.

"Air... breathe..." this time she glomped him a little too hard, but lessened her grip so as to not suffocate Ludwig. He gasped for air and continued trying to make his escape. "Mint T. cannot place this false accusation in print that quickly."

"Internet," Ciryl voiced.

Ludwig knew right away that it was hopeless. While Mint T. made her escape, she was probably on the phone with her private web designer, who would have already received the pictures sent via wireless, and posted them online, along with Mint T.'s voice mail commentary on her official website all about the latest gossip.

A few minutes passed and Bowser's voice echoed all over the castle. "Ludwig!" The king's footsteps approached until he threw the door open. "Ludwig, who gave you permission to invite your evil witch of a lover to live here?!"

"See? I told you, internet!" Ciryl wasn't taking the problem seriously at all, and that only served to further stress poor Ludwig.

"Bowser!" Peach came running after him, "I told you, that's just Mint T.'s gossip. I'm certain that Ludwig's girlfriend is a fine lady."

"Master, actually," Ciryl clarified, "Ludwig is my new pet."

"Perhaps a bit dominant," Peach mused, "but not an evil witch."

Ludwig sighed, being prince charming wasn't easy, but he couldn't help it. He liked being well educated and prominent in music, it was just the way he was. Ciryl glomped her new pet again and Ludwig began to complain again. "I must insist that you release me, I am not a pet!" It was a mystery to him where the strength of a fan girl came from, but fan girls were indeed very strong, and sometimes frightening.

"Ow!" Ciryl clutched her arm. "You're so mean!"

"I'm sure it was an accident, right Ludwig?" Peach hinted for Ludwig to console the girl, though she wasn't quite sure what happened.

Bowser grumbled, he was feeling left out of the conversation and he liked to be the center of attention. "You gotta be careful with humans, try to learn from me. I'll give you a long and boring fatherly speech about this later." That was mean, but like the koopalings, Bowser also loved to be mean sometimes.

Ludwig gave up; it seemed that he had gotten out the wrong side of the bed that day, metaphorically speaking as he was actually still sitting on his bed. "Very well, miss, I apologize to you."

"No saying sorry if you don't try to make up for it!" Ciryl made her best sad face.

"Then I will find a way to compensate you for your troubles." For a genius, Ludwig could be gullible under pressure.

"You'll do anything?" Ciryl asked.

Ludwig glanced at his father and mama Peach. "Yes, you have my word."

Ciryl had Ludwig right were she wanted him, and she glomped him yet again. "Be my pet forever and ever!"

"You are not injured..." Ludwig noted.

Ciryl grinned victoriously, "I didn't say you hurt me."

Bowser laughed, "Ha ha! She got you there!"

"But Ludwig isn't a pet..." Peach tried to bring that point to attention but no one really listened. Except Bowser, but he just heard the heavenly melody that was Peach's voice and didn't quite catch the actual message.

Alas, prince charming could not break his princely word. Besides, he knew it was useless to resist, for some fan girls were just impossibly stubborn. "Such is the dilemma of prince charming..."

End of Event 33

Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario characters. Only Mint T. and Ciryl are mine, but just the characters not the Mario concepts. Special thanks to mariosonic for the idea of Mint T. stalking Ludwig. 


	34. Accidental Kiss

A rug that's not properly extended on the floor can lead to accidents. BowserxPeach

Vacation

Event 34: Accidental Kiss

"Peach?" He sounds a bit confused by my sudden laughter. Just imagining his expression amuses me even if I haven't done anything yet.

"Would you like a kiss?"

He's quiet for a moment then asks. "Could you repeat that?"

I face him, smiling. "Would you like a kiss?"

He stands there frozen and finally nods his head first slowly then very, very fast. "Yes!"

I extend me hand. "Here."

He stares at the chocolate I'm holding. Then slowly takes it and examines it. "You're so cruel" It is said in a half disappointed, half amused tone. At least he has a sense of humor.

He didn't even remember sending that afternoon snack earlier with all the sweets. I couldn't help it but to save a chocolate and try this. It's childish, I shouldn't, but I just had to do it.

"I'll treasure this chocolate but even more I'll treasure your smile" Smile? I guess he does make me smile. In the past I could keep a serious face no matter how hard he tried, but I can't do that anymore.

It feel a little odd somehow to talk to him while he's so far away we both had to completely extend our arms for me to give him the chocolate. In the past I would have stepped back just because we're in the same room but now I take a small step forward. That was a mistake as I tripped over the fancy rug that's not properly extended on the floor from the koopalings running around earlier. Bowser rushes to catch me and trips too.

We manage to stop each other from falling right in the middle and I'm sure our lips touched for just a split second when we nearly bumped our heads. "Are you ok?" He seems a bit embarrassed.

I'm sure my face must be turning red as well. "Yes, I'm fine, are you ok?" It was an accident, it was only an accident so I should just forget about it, but I can't.

"Better than okay!"

End of Event 34

This one is also for Razzi's challenge. Disclaimer, I do not own Bowser, Peach or the Mario games. 


	35. Seal of Approval

Vacation

Event 35: Seal of Approval

Bowser's POV

"Yummy!"

"Yoshi, let's not jump to conclusions." That serious expression, as if this was a highly complicated event is obviously faked for humor. "Sure it looks yummy but is it really?"

I can't believe this. Me, Bowser Koopa, King of the Koopas, strong, talented and all around amazing, having such a hard time with such a simple task. To think it all started because of the seal of approval thing.

About an hour ago she said "be nice to my friends while I'm away" and with a wink disappeared into the conference room and the doors closed behind her. My Princess Peach, I finally won her heart but now I confront another challenge, getting used to being friends with her friends.

"Hey Bowser!" The princess in the yellow dress is here, Daisy. She speaks to me naturally just as Peach said she would. It seems she's one of the few who didn't go into a state of shock when she heard about us. Peach said she was very supportive.

"Yoshi!" The little green one seems to be taking it well also. He was giving the kids rides earlier. Watching them I felt an odd sense of deja vu but I'm not sure why. Maybe it's part of the process of adapting to this new wonderful life. For you my Peachy I would do anything.

That's how it all started. Then Daisy started saying something about me earning her 'best friend seal of approval' and Yoshi said... well he just said 'Yoshi' but according to Daisy he meant that I also had to earn the 'brother seal of approval' since Peach has become somewhat of a sister to him.

To earn those seals of approval I was given a challenge. I just didn't think it would be so hard to do a simple task that I usually get someone else to do for me such as prepare an afternoon snack, chocolate covered peaches no less.

"This is pretty good," I do hope that means I have the 'best friend seal of approval'.

Those chocolate covered peaches are not just 'pretty good' but also "yummy!" Yes, what Yoshi said when he snatched away the peaches with his tongue plate and all.

"I'm back from the meeting!" That voice, that lovely voice and not a moment too soon!

"Peachy, I missed you!" Is this what it's like to be rescued?

"Daisy, Yoshi? Were you picking on him?" My Peachy sounds kind of amused while Daisy and Yoshi smile innocently. I'm not sure if this quite classifies as picking on me but it was certainly a challenge. The art of snack making is more complicated than it looks.

"Oh no, never!"

"Yoshi!"

By the looks of it, I think I did earn those seals of approval.

End of Event 35

This one was a bit of a strange one but hopefully amusing. Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games and characters. 


	36. Princesses Sneeze Too

Vacation

Event 36: Princesses Sneeze Too

Bowser's POV

She looked very uncomfortable when I kidnapped her. I know this is a strange thing to notice since this is a kidnapping but I have never seen Peach make that face she's making right now. As we fly away in the clown copter she seems to be frantically searching for something in her dress. Did she lose something? "Peach?"

"Han" Before she can finish she makes a face as if holding back a sneeze. Han? Hand? She wants to hold hands? No, no, don't start daydreaming, focus, focus, Peach needs something! Han... handkerchief! I get it, that's what she can't find. Uh oh, I can't have my precious princess sneeze without something to sneeze in. I better hurry.

The second we land Peach jumps off the clown copter and rushes towards her usual room. Kamek, who was waiting, pauses in puzzlement at her action. Then she stops. She's not going to make it on time! "Kamek quick, one super soft magical handkerchief!"

Kamek snaps to attention and uses his magic. Peach takes the light pink handkerchief in a hurry and with a high pitched "acho!" releases the sneeze she had been holding back for so long.

"Bless you!" She even looks cute sneezing!

With relief and a beautiful smile she says "thank you" then thanks Kamek as well.

"Are you feeling better now? Do you need another handkerchief?"

She looks like she's about to say something but pauses.

Peach's POV

Ludwig is standing in the balcony above trying to say something with just silent signals. I'm not certain I understand. What? The handkerchief? Bowser? Oh! I get it! "No thanks, it's ok. I think I'll keep this one just in case, alright?"

"Yes of course. Make yourself comfortable and stay warm I'll have the cook make some hot chocolate. I can't have you catching a cold." Kidnappings aside he is sweet sometimes.

Ludwig's POV

That was close. Knowing King Dad he would probably have that handkerchief displayed under glass somewhere where he can stare at it. We really don't need Mama Peach finding out just how obsessed he is, though I'm not sure if she would find it odd or feel flattered.

End of Event 36

You thought the mini collection was over, right? I thought so too but after sneezing I thought, 'does Peach sneeze?' Well yes, even if she is a princess she must sneeze sometimes and this scene came to mind. Disclaimer, I do not the Mario games or its characters. 


	37. Space Out

Vacation

Event 37: Space Out

Peach's POV

Ludwig Von koopa, Bowser's oldest son. Very nice boy, perfect gentleman too. He offered to play the piano for me so I wouldn't be bored. I followed him to his music room and listened. I remember feeling... how do I describe it? A motherly pride? No that's not the word but I honestly don't know what else to say to describe it. Maybe it's just because he, like his siblings, calls me 'Mama Peach', I think its cute.

Lemmy certainly has a lot of balance to be able to go up and down stairs on that ball. I was amazed when I first saw him. I think I distracted him a little and he almost fell but managed to regain his balance. It was amusing. Iggy looks a lot like his brother except he wears glasses. They both have rainbow hair. Roy always seems to act like a tough guy but I can tell he has a soft spot hidden deep down. Than there's Wendy, Morton and Larry. Morton sure likes to talk. Finally there's Bowser jr. he can be so cute, they're all so cute.

Then there's Bowser. He's a little insistent on his methods, constantly kidnapping me, but he has told me he loves me. Has anyone else said that? Well yes, my family but that's different. No one else has said it in a couple sort of way. He does try hard; maybe I should be a little more appreciative of what he does. Maybe then he'll know that a kidnapping isn't necessary to get me to talk to him. Actually I'll give him my number. What am I saying? No, no, no... but it would be nice to talk without getting kidnapped sometimes. Maybe I can talk to the koopalings too, they're adorable.

Sometimes I just can't help it but to think about it. I always push the thoughts away but why do they return? If this was really so wrong, if I'm really such a traitor to think this way, then why? Why does it feel right? I'm so confused. This is what I wanted to figure out. If I have feelings for him and how to get rid of them, because I can't very well admit them or accept them. I just can't, or maybe I have no other choice. Or maybe facing the truth is the best choice.

"No, we have not been able to establish contact. Astronaut Peach may be having difficulties with her communications device. Maybe she can't hear us."

"We have to bring her back we can't let Mama Peach crash into the sun."

"Roger that I'll try again. Daisy to Peach, come in Peach! You're flying too close to the sun! Are you having trouble with the jetpack? Please answer! SShrr, shhr. Sir we're only getting static, she's not answering!"

"Quick send backup. Astronaut Daisy get ready for launch your mission is to bring Astronaut Mama Peach back to Earth."

"Yes, sir I'm on it!"

"Begin countdown, ten, nine, eight, six, five, four..."

"You skipped seven"

"I did I skipped lucky seven? Let me try again" This time using his fingers as a guide Larry counted backwards all the way to zero while I just stared. "Ten, nine, eight, lucky seven, six, five, four, two, no, three then two, one, zero!"

"Blast off, blast off, blast off!" Lemmy started jumping around, when did they get here?

"What's going on?" I'm confused, I'm beyond confused. I'm completely and totally lost.

"She's back!" Daisy dramatically threw her arms in the air. The two koopalings clapped and cheered.

"You must really like your mystery man if you space out thinking about him this much. Didn't you hear the Toads freaking out? Didn't you notice that I left and came back with these two? The children stuck into the castle and everyone was having a fit about it. They're just kids it's not like it's a full scale invasion or anything. With that humongous crush Bowser has on you I very much doubt the kingdom will be in any danger. Anyway I told the guards that we would take care of the children" I nod slowly at Daisy's explanation.

I was talking to Daisy while we enjoy eating slices of chocolate cake, telling her that I might like someone other than Mario but not clearly saying who, and the next second I start to space out and get lost in my thoughts so much that I didn't even notice when Larry and Lemmy got here. It's just one of those days when I spend more time day dreaming than awake...

End Event 37

Disclaimer, I don't own the Mario characters and games. 


	38. Weird Legacy

Vacation

Event 38: Weird Legacy

Peach's POV

It's such a quiet afternoon... Crash! "Ah!" "It's Bowser!"

Let me rephrase that, it is a noisy afternoon in the Mushroom Kingdom and I am about to get kidnapped. That's not my only worry; I have a busy afternoon today. This isn't something I want to do but it needs to be done.

"King Dad!" That must be Junior but why is he here?

"You'll have to wait until we get back home. You shouldn't have snuck along," that was Bowser.

I open the door and find Bowser and his son there, just as I thought. Junior looks somewhat uncomfortable. I wonder what's wrong. Now Bowser is staring at me but not the same way he usually does, this is a surprised stare. I think I'll give him time to get over the shock and see what's wrong with Junior. "Are you alright?"

He shakes his head. "I had too much chocolate milk and I gotta go!"

"Go where?" I pause, of course, it should be obvious. "It's okay, this way."

"Peach?" Sounds like Bowser regained the ability to speak. "My precious princess, are they making you work?"

"Calm down Bowser no one is making me do anything. It's just that I need to do some cleaning and no, it's not something the maids can do. It's a long story." I guess he's really shocked to find me like this with old jeans, a pink tshirt, no jewelry, my hair in a messy ponytail, rubber gloves and a bucket full of cleaning supplies in my hands. "First I need to show Junior where the bathroom is, okay?"

He nods still clearly confused and the two koopas follow me. Hidden in my walk in closet there is a level. After pulling it a hidden tunnel in a wall appears. From there we go down spiral stairs and into a dark passage. I reach for the light switch and Click! Sigh... "Looks like I'll have to change the light bulb too."

"Mama Peach, are we almost there?"

"Yes, almost." Finally we arrive at the end of a tunnel and there I input a numeric password into a panel on the wall revealing another secret passage. "See the door at the end? That's the bathroom."

"Thank you Mama Peach!" While Junior rushed to the bathroom Bowser continued staring at me.

"I guess I should explain this. It's kind of a secret so please don't tell anyone."

"Sure, I just want to know what's going on. Is cleaning like a hobby and why is the bathroom hidden underground?"

I laugh. He really is confused by all of this but I can't blame him. "Not exactly, you see, one of my ancestors from a long time ago well let's just say she didn't have the best attitude. She wanted people to think royalty was special to the point were we didn't sneeze, get hot or cold, sick, dirty, sweaty and so on. She wanted people to think royalty was so special we didn't even need to use the bathroom. Because of that the bathrooms were built hidden. No one but the royal family can know the location of the bathrooms that are in the castle as it is considered a family secret passed down the generations. Because the law says that we cannot tell anyone about the family secrets including the maids, I have to do the cleaning myself."

He's staring at me as if I grew a second head. I honestly can't blame him. "Can't you change that law?"

"Because the royal family's secrets and that law are considered part of an ancestral legacy we can't simply change it. If our people found out and at least ninety-five percent of the Mushroom Kingdom population signed a petition to change it then it can be changed. Honestly, I've considered letting it slip but father would be embarrassed that he as well as our ancestors had been guarding this ridiculous legacy for so long. Can you image it? People signing a petition for bathrooms? It would be rather strange. The castle workers don't really ask about it they just walk to Toad Town if they need a bathroom break. I wish we could at least build a bathroom for them but the obvious presence of bathrooms in the castle in forbidden."

We laugh together. "I never knew you hid such secrets."

It seems Junior is done as he is now coming out of the bathroom. "Feeling better?"

Junior nods. "Yup! How com you're dressed different today?"

"It's cleaning day, that's all." At that he looks adorably confused. "The cleaning can wait, keep your daddy entertained while I go change and I'll go to the Koopa Castle to play with you and your siblings."

If Daisy was witnessing this she would say something like "I knew the reason you were getting kidnapped so often was because you wanted to." Last time we spoke she suggested that maybe it wasn't a kidnapping anymore because I was willing to go. I didn't give her a straight answer and I know it must be driving her insane. I'll tell her next time.

"Yay Mama Peach is coming over! Let's go, let's go!" Junior is certainly energetic today, rushing back out the secret passage.

Bowser rushes after him reminding him not to break anything. When we emerge from the closet we find a group of Toad guards looking quite confused as to how we apparently vanished from the castle a lot faster then in previous kidnappings. That's when Bowser paused. The look in his face was as if he needed to sneeze. He tried hard to hold it in but it didn't work because he sneezed anyway. With the sneeze came flaming breath.

The Toad guards squealed in fear and immediately began to panic thinking the sneeze was an attack. I really shouldn't be making fun of my beloved loyal subjects but they look kind of funny running around in circles all panicked. Oh look two of them bumped into each other, excused themselves then continued running. "Please calm down everyone. Go back to your posts, everything is fine, trust me. As I led them out of the room they appeared to be so panicked they didn't even noticed my change of attire.

"Sorry about that" Bowser said sounding embarrassed.

"It's okay, I know you didn't mean to scare them. Here," I hold out a box of tissues, they're pink of course.

He shyly takes it and looks at it adoringly rather than using it. "Acho!" That sneeze was smaller and more high pitched too young to produce fire like that of his father.

"You too, Junior?" He's near the tunnel again trying to reach the level that opens and closes it to play with it. "There's dust in the tunnel, I really need to clean it before it gets on my dresses. But it's ok, I'll clean it tomorrow." Today I said I would go play with the koopalings and that I shall do. Besides, a little procrastination won't hurt... "Here you go," I can't believe I'm doing this, holding the soft pink tissue for him like my mother used to do when I was little. It brings back memories. Life has its strange moments and its sweet moments.

End of Event 38

This story is for Luigi Rules 512 who wanted to know where the bathroom in the Mushroom Castle was, for Unstable Chemicals who wanted to know if Bowser sneezed and for Razzi who inspired this collection. Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters. 


	39. Battle

This is a little ficlet based on some of the magical powers the characters have in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, with a theme that's Smash Bros. style, quite different from the other drabbles of the collection. Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters.

Vacation

Event 39: Battle

With the entrance to the tunnel sealed, surely the plumber wouldn't follow them in. Fire flickered and burned but it was not produced by him. He followed the light to where Peach stood, bomb on hand. The black orb flew over his head colliding with the newly formed stone wall, and exploded at impact. Rubble fell, the ground shook, and once again a stone wall rose from the ground covering the entrance to be blown up in the same way soon after.

One more time, he closed the entrance refusing to give up. She threw another bomb from her endless magical supply. The stone walls parted letting it fly outside, and at that time a ball of fire came to meet the explosive. The stone walls closed, shielding the two inside the cave from the explosion, and leaving the plumbers to deal with it. Then, lightning stuck destroying the stone wall that covered the entrance, and the sun peeked in again.

A massive explosion of fire rushed out of the cave to meet Mario and Luigi, then the Koopa King felt a tap on his arm and turned to look at the Princess ceasing the fire. She handed him a bomb, he threw it out, it exploded in Yoshi's stomach after he caught it with his tongue and ate it. The green dinosaur burped some smoke and was otherwise unaffected.

Far from being out of the battle, Bowser breathed fire once again until he became exhausted, sleepy, as sheep summoned by Peach circled him sending him into a trance. Then, the King Boo appeared, Bower must have summoned him right before falling asleep. Peach backed away, knowing bombs and sleep, her only magical offence, won't work. Lightning and fire collided with the background through the ghost king and Yoshi's tongue wrapped itself around empty air.

The sound of metal was heard as Bowser's other summon made the scene, the Koopa King was now fully awake. The large machine, similar to a giant wind up toy, made the ground shake with every step and Yoshi backed away, that thing was too big to swallow. With the chocolates Peach had given him earlier safely in his grasp, he wondered if he should stop to enjoy them before continuing the fight. Peach was not in any real danger, everyone knew, yet she was being kidnapped and something had to be done. But those chocolates were too good to swallow whole; even Yoshi knew they had to be slowly enjoyed.

"Yoshi!" Hearing his dear friend Mario calling, Yoshi rushed forward, tripped and dropped his precious box of chocolates, a gift from Peach, a delicious treasure. Not paying attention to where it stepped, the giant mechanical creature squashed the chocolates leaving the box flat as a sheet of paper. Yoshi stared in disbelief before shouting out the only word he could pronounce in anger and vengeance. He swallowed that mecha whole.

The green dinosaur with the big appetite grieved his chocolates, while Peach consoled him with the promise of more. Mario, Luigi and Bowser watched; their thoughts unknown. The battle ended and each side retreated to their respective homes.

Toadsworth shook his head watching from afar, such violent games they played sometimes. He feared that Peach's fianc? Bowser, was rubbing off on her... but of course, that simply could not be.

End of Event 39 


	40. TShirt

Vacation

Event 40: T-Shirt

"Are you going to wear it?" Daisy asked.

"I can't, but it's the thought that counts." It was one of those custom made t-shirts people could buy with any picture they chose. It was light pink, with a picture of Peach and Bowser in each other arms. The artist was quite talented, making it look as realistic as a photo.

"I'm just kidding; Bowser may get the wrong idea, right?" Rather than simply agreeing; Daisy sounded as if she was asking if it would be the wrong idea or not.

"Right," Peach assured Daisy. Peach would have to hide the t-shirt and make sure the maids didn't find it when cleaning. She would have a lot of explaining to do if it was found. For now she wouldn't worry about it, the t-shirt was safely hidden in a locked box in her closet. Right now Peach would concentrate in making a chocolate cake with Daisy; or at least she tried to concentrate. Peach's mind kept returning to that picture, and how comfortable it looked.

End of Event 40

Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters. 


	41. Sports Wear

Vacation

Event 41: Sports Wear

So far, Peach managed to play tennis with the koopalings while hiding it from Bowser. Sure the koopalings saw it, but that was inevitable. Wendy had found it while turning Peach's walk in closet upside-down trying to help her pick out what to wear.

Of course, Wendy insisted that Peach used that t-shirt during the promised game of tennis. When Wendy's brothers heard about it they wanted to see Mama Peach wearing it too. It was impossible to deny...

When Bowser escaped from his royal duties, Peach played at a strange angle managing to hide the picture of her shirt while at the same time keeping up with a decent game. When it all ended, she covered the picture with her racket but it would make no sense for her to continue holding it while they had some ice-cream.

Peach decided to give up and enjoy the icy chocolate treat. She set her racket aside and felt Bowser stare at the picture, then say something about how beautiful she looked. She knew that he wanted to recreate that scene and it was only a matter of time before he did.

End of Event 41

As requested, here's a mini sequel to Event 40. XD Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters. 


	42. Warmth and Comfort

Vacation

Event 42: Warmth and Comfort

Peach leaned back comfortable and warm. She yawned and gazed around the room with half closed eyes. She picked up a chocolate from the half empty box that sat open on the table, reaching for it without getting up. She ate the delicious treat and leaned back closing her eyes and savoring it.

Warmth and comfort, it was something that many seek, and sadly not all of them find. Peach's blue eyes opened once again and she noticed something, the hand that had been previously caressing her hair had stopped moving. She could not precise at what moment in time it stopped but it did. She felt soft breaths at a steady rhythm that made her sleepier.

Suppressing a second yawn, because she decided that one was enough, Peach shifted to her side and rested her head, she could hear a calm steady heartbeat. Sleeping in a sitting position, she didn't know if Bowser could do that but she guessed he could and it was true. Not only that but he could sleep with someone sitting on him, as Peach currently was.

End of Event 42

Yay for random fluff! Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or characters. 


	43. Sleepless

This one takes place during Super Mario RPG but can be understood even if you haven't played it. Basically, all you need to know is that right now Mario, Peach and Bowser are on the same team.

Vacation

Event 43: Sleepless

One particular thing about traveling off to save the world without much of a plan; is the possibility of being captured by the night without warning. Luckily, the travelers had managed to reach the next town on time and claim the last available room.

The room was equipped with three beds, which equaled the number of people that would be occupying it. Mario claimed the middle bed, as if to form a barrier between Bowser and Peach, though a very ineffective one since he fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

Peach attempted to sleep, but found the room uncomfortably hot. She neatly folded the blanket and put it away, then once again tried to sleep without it, missing the air conditioner she would have in her room. But no one ever said a journey to save the world was an easy one, and Peach knew it when she joined, thus she accepted what was available without complaint, she was a princess but not a spoiled girl.

Bowser was sleeping on his stomach since it would be hard to sleep on his shell. He didn't usually wear it to sleep, but it's not like he had time to pack when Exor came crashing down on his castle. From his position on the relatively small bed, he couldn't really see Peach over the plumber wall that slept between the Koopa King and the Mushroom Princess.

Peach had not yet fallen sleep; she found her dress very uncomfortable to sleep it. She removed her gloves and neatly folded them and put them aside. She pushed her hair up, cascading over the pillow and away from her warm neck and shoulders, but nothing worked. She had not brought anything more comfortable to wear, and the multiple layers of her skirt were really starting to annoy her, the temperature was just too hot to fall asleep.

Bowser was not doing much better. His heavy shall weighted down on his neck, arms, legs and tail. It was not so bad at first, but after a while it got annoying. He tried crawling into his shell but found that though he could fit inside it, the confined space was too uncomfortable to sleep in. He sat up and looked over Mario towards Peach, but found only an empty bed.

Bowser got up quietly. He didn't see or hear Peach leave, but she couldn't have left too long ago, so he headed out of the room and down the stairs. He checked the kitchen but Peach was not there. However, since he was already there, Bowser took a large container full of chocolate ice-cream and a pair of spoons. Then he headed outside.

Peach was sitting on the ground in a small hill a few feet away from the inn. The town was very quiet as everyone slept. It seemed that Peach and Bowser were the only people in the entire town who were awake. The heat wasn't that bad, but combined with a heavy shell or a layered dress it was enough to chase the sand man away.

Bowser walked over to Peach and offered her some ice-cream. They shared it under the light on the full moon, and though not too much was said that night, it felt as if they had reached a mutual understanding and some kind of bond being able to quietly enjoy each other's company. All in all, sleep was overrated anyway.

End of Event 43

Disclaimer, I don't own Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.

I'll integrate more revised versions of my fanfics into this collection soon and removed the old versions. Sorry for moving things around but it's more organized this way, easier to update and everything has received improvements in grammar and spelling. 


	44. Authentic

Razzi's famous Bowser x Peach story is three years old! Happy Birthday Change of Heart!

Vacation

Event 44: Authentic

Peach wasn't sure if she should be relived or upset. Well Bowser was certainly upset, but then again she couldn't blame him when his pride was shattered to a million pieces.

Mario was amused, he was very amused, and Toadsworth was unexpectedly accepting, daring to use the word "sensitive" on the same sentence as Bowser's name. If not for Peach, they would both be in big trouble.

"You're missing the point," Luigi tried to reason with his brother while throwing side glances at Daisy's giggle fit, she wasn't helping. "Mario, you're missing the point!" The green hat plumber insisted.

"Yes, well..." Toadsworth cleared his throat. "I must say I'm quite surprised, but I suppose you really can't judge a book by its cover. Perhaps Bowser has changed."

Bowser grumbled and cursed under his flaming breath, as the heat persisted with the invasion of his already crimson cheeks and his blood continued to boil.

Luigi sighed; far from being upset, Mario was actually amused. As Luigi said, Mario was completely missing the point. Peach had broken up with him to start dating his enemy; yet all that Mario could do was laugh at the authentic photograph of Bowser getting his hair done by Peach in a very pink hair salon.

End of Event 44

Disclaimer, I don't own Super Mario. Event 44 was inspired by a scene from Chapter 32 of Razzi's Change of Heart. 


	45. Baking Day

Vacation

Event 45: Baking Day

The trail caused the goomba maid to stress abundantly. She would have flailed her arms around in an exaggerated fashion if goombas had arms. Instead she settled for grabbing a broom somehow, and sweeping away the mess.

The trail was made of crumbs, sinking between the gray stones of the Koopa Castle and making it very difficult to sweep them away. Still, the maid did not give up and swept over every inch of the hall until it was clean. Then the Koopa King dashed down the hall, leaving his footprints all over the place.

Once again the goomba maid abundantly stressed, she would have flailed her arms in an exaggerated fashion again if goombas had arms, but alas they did not, so she skipped that stage of her reaction and went on to fetch a mop. The footprints were not of mud as she had originally thought. Those footprints were made of chocolate cake batter.

Following the trail of crumbs, Bowser found the Koopalings and Peach. It was baking day today, because the Mushroom Kingdom had a holiday for everything from chips to lollypops and everything else. Now that Peach was queen of both kingdoms, the Koopa Kingdom had started adopting some of those holidays too.

Peach was a baking expert, everyone knew that. The Koopalings had been eating cookies, cake, donuts, and many other backed goods made by Peach all day, hence why the castle was full of crumbs.

"I..." Bowser was out of breath from running in search of Peach and the koopalings after working so hard to bake something because everyone in the family had tried. Predictably, it didn't work out too well for Bowser; he wasn't good at baking, though he was pretty good at roasting food with his fire breath.

"You baked something?" Peach looked at the cake Bowser was holding, it was far too elaborate to be compared to his earlier attempt.

"Yes... and I messed up so I got Kammy to help out, but I still did most the work! I had to imagine the cake and Kammy made it real with her magic, but this cake was still my idea!" Of that Peach had no doubts, given that there was a lovely picture of both of them on the cake.

"You know what they say," Peach smiled, "it's the thought that counts."

End of Event 45

Requested by Razzi, and also inspired by blog comment conversations with Razzi. Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. 


	46. Calling Sweet Dreams

Vacation

Event 46: Calling Sweet Dreams

She yawned and some wondered if she was bored, while others knew she was sleepy, though they didn't know why.

Without fail the princess would go to bed early every day. The light in her room would be off and the guards were certain that she never left during the entire night.

Sure enough, come morning, the dreaded alarm clock would ring and the princess, who had in fact remained in her room the entire night, would wake up and carry herself out of bed with a certain amount of difficulty.

No one knew to whom the unidentified number belonged, or why the calls took place late into the night and did not end until morning, even after sleep had claimed her. No one knew of the whispers in the darkness of the night, or the sound of warm breaths that felt so close but were so far away. No one knew next to whom Princess Peach was sleeping.

End of Event 46

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. I thought I should make another little update for this collection. The scene is basically Peach and Bowser talking on the phone so late that they fall asleep while on the phone, fluffy, yes? 


	47. Summary

Vacation

Event 47: Summary

Why was she taking so long? Did she not want to speak to him? Or maybe she didn't have answer. He thought it would be fair to ask, after all, he gave his answer first; he gave his answer all the time. Maybe she really didn't have an answer, but how could that be? There were so many things to answer with, or she could simply summarize it all with 'everything'.

Bowser was using one of those convenient messenger services to communicate with Peach. However, after telling her continuously how much he loves her, and what he likes about her, which really could be summarized as 'everything'; he inquired what she likes about him and received virtual silence.

Then, when he least expected it, when he was starting to fear that his princess had abandoned her computer out of lack of desire to speak to him, his screen was overloaded with words.

Apparently the simple question triggered a self analytical speech that started out full of contradictions and clear hints of denial, and developed into a deep introspection and the process of Peach figuring out exactly where she stood.

Bowser was surprised, shocked to say the least; and he did try to read everything even if it confused him. Then the previous super long message was pushed aside by a new one. "Everything," he could imagine Peach blushing miles away, and he would be grinning for days.

End of Event 47

Disclaimer, I don't the Mario games or characters. This was inspired by a super long reply I made to an entry in Razzi's blog, which wasn't even related to Mario. Because of Change of Heart, Razzi always reminds me of BxP, even if we're not talking about it. I wondered how Peach or Bowser would react to receiving a very long reply to a form of internet communication and this drabble bunny was born.


	48. Wisdom Fang

Here's another little drabble inspired by Razzi. :D

Vacation

Event 48: Wisdom Fang

That had to hurt, it had to hurt like there was no tomorrow. Anyone would know, just by looking at the size of that huge wisdom fang, that having it taken out must have hurt more than an average mortal could withstand without becoming severely traumatized by the pain, or just plain dropping dead.

In fact, it did hurt, it hurt a lot. The pain was impossible to describe and Peach could almost feel it just by seeing Bowser's expression as she held his removed wisdom fang, which she curious insisted on seeing. She knew the prideful Koopa King would want to keep it as a valuable treasure; after all, it was a part of him.

Though Bowser enjoyed his steaks, burgers and fried meat as much as the next koopa, he had been living on pudding for the past few days, and shamefully hiding that fact. Bowser depended on Peach delivering the pudding, or he would starve before admitting he was in too much pain to chew. This was the perfect excuse to eat nothing but pudding, because it was made by his princess.

"You poor dear," on the bright side, Peach would spoil and baby Bowser, showering him with gentle and amorous attention, to help him deal with his recovery.

The Koopa King was really looking forward to his next dentist appointment.

End of Event 48

Disclaimer, I don't own the Mario games or characters.


	49. Horns

Vacation

Event 49: Horns

As they made their way around the city towards the cause-play contest, Peach and Bowser had come across many look-alikes, both good and bad.

"It's missing something..." Another fake Peach examined her Bowser companion.

"I know, contact lenses, I'll put them on before the contest," the false Bowser replied.

"Horns," the female cause-player pointed out, "you forgot the horns and Bowser needs horns, they make him look imposing and dangerous and strong and horny and stuff..."

"Horns make Bowser look horny?"

"Yeah and he needs to be horny."

"I guess that makes sense with Peach right next to him and all."

The two cause-players nodded in agreement and walked off to complete his costume, while the real pair just stood there.

"Horny?" Bowser glared at the wannabe-him.

As for the real Peach, she was unable to offer words of consolation to ease Bowser's anger because she was too busy laughing. But fortunately, she was able to hold on to Bowser's arm, to prevent him from making it so there was one less cause-player in the world.

End of Event 49

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. This was inspired by Matt's comment about my Gaians, which were inspired by Razzi's Change of Heart. I have two Gaians, a boy and a girl, and I had them cause-playing (see Razzi's Change of Heart) as Peach and Bowser. I still needed to add some horns on the Bowser cause-play and I was talking to Matt about it, to which he commented "Yes. Bowser needs to be horny. ...wait." That joke made this fanfic come to life, because I laughed as much as Peach, if not more. XD 


	50. The Holiday of Holidays

A note to Power-Fan since the review wasn't logged in, I used "cause-play" instead of "cosplay" because I'm referring to the event in Razzi's "Change of Heart", which you must read right away if you like PeachxBowser!

Vacation

Event 50: The Holiday of Holidays

It was a bright and sunny morning, and Peach was up earlier than usual. Since she would not be expected at the breakfast table for a little while, she watched a video in her room.

On the screen, she saw Bowser, trying his very best to say something nice to Ludwig, who happened to be the first person to cross his path after Peach tricked him into promising to say at least one unexpected nice thing.

The princess zoomed in at Ludwig's shocked and worried expression, "Father... are you indisposed?"

"Nobody's disposing of me!" Bowser retorted, the nerve of the boy saying such a thing after he put so much effort into being nice, if only for Peach's sake.

"I did not allude to such an idea, I was just concerned over your well being. You're acting quite comparable to the time when you suffered from bilious. Perhaps today's breakfast had an adverse effect."

"Billing what?" While Bowser became more confused, Peach became more amused.

The video was interrupted by a knock on the door, which Peach answered right away. There were several Toads at her door, with many heart shaped chocolate boxes, fifty to be precise. "You have a delivery from Bowser," and the boxes were brought in. Never mind breakfast, Peach had chocolate that morning.

Come lunch time, she too threw nutrition out the window and delighted in more sweets, this time chocolate eggs and marshmallow bunnies and chicks. Bowser had sent fifty baskets full of treats.

This time, just as the first time, Peach had called Bowser to thank him for the gift and find out why he was giving her all those presents, but he wouldn't say.

When dinner came around, Toadsworth was quite upset about Peach's choice of meals for the day. The same went for the Toads since obviously she couldn't eat everything alone and shared with everyone, giving many a blissful day of careless culinary indulgence. Fifty pumpkins full of candy had arrived in time for dinner.

Once again, Peach called Bowser for the third time that day, but couldn't get him to tell her what this was about. Peach had thought about it time and again, but couldn't come up with the answer. It was not her birthday, it was not the anniversary of when they started dating, it had not been a year yet. It was not a national holiday in the Mushroom or Koopa kingdoms, though the gifts reminded her of Valentine's Day, Easter and Halloween. Then, around eight at night, fifty wrapped presents were delivered to Peach, it was like Christmas.

Peach called Bowser again, and the interference and background noise, revealed to her that he must have been speedily traveling in his clown-copter when he answered his cellphone. He wouldn't say where he was going, but she knew he was coming to see her and maybe now she would get some answers.

When Bowser arrived, Peach did manage to get it out of him that it was an anniversary, but it couldn't be theirs because they had not been dating for a full year. It also wasn't the anniversary of their first meeting.

They were caught up with each other and time flew by. Finally, at mid night, there was a beautiful display of fireworks, which Bowser had arranged for Peach. It was like New Year's Eve. It was then, as they kissed, that the realization finally hit Peach. It had been exactly fifty days since their first kiss, and to Bowser, that had been the holiday of holidays.

End of Event 50

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. The opening segment of this drabble was inspired by a chat with Razzi about nice unexpected things. The use of the number fifty was inspired by superblooper, who asked if I was going to do anything special for the 50th entry. According to the dictionary "bilious" means "indigestion", but I'm not as good with words as Ludwig so who knows if that's true. 


	51. Worth Waiting For

I'm sure Razzi will know exactly where this idea came from, and I'm also pretty sure people will be able to give it a meaning, even if it's not as specific. In short, new chapters are worth waiting for. I should know, as someone who practically jumps with joy when I get a new chapter alert for the fics I'm reading.

Vacation

Event 51: Worth Waiting For

The impatience that had characterized his loving attentions in the near past, was finally starting to settle down at the same time as those attentions were increased, or rather allowed to increase, by the augmenting positive reception of them.

Peach knew all too well that underneath the mask of patient understanding, there was a lot of impatient understanding, accompanied by passionate love. But she had to give Bowser some credit for not calling her more then twice during the progress of her royal meeting. She was amused, when she thought of the silly stereotypes about clingy girls in pink, when it was in fact, her boyfriend who couldn't seem to breathe for an hour straight without hearing her voice.

"It's too good to be true," Bowser had once said, and maybe it was that, other than the obvious love, which kept him glued to Peach as much as their mutual duties permitted. He didn't want to come to the realization that it was all a dream. Waking up from his nap during Kamek's speech at a meeting, to find that the fantasy had dissolved after his slumber ended, was a disastrous thought for Bowser. The Koopa King, needed to know, and be assured, that it was all true; and Peach tried her best to do that.

After a while, Bowser finally started to get used to his status in relation to Peach, albeit it still was, and would always be, a cause for euphoric joy. However, he tried to give her some space and for that she commended him. He knew the day would come when they would be married, or remarried, completely willingly on Peach's part that time. Then, they would spend every moment together.

Bowser longed for that time, he longer for Peach's next visit, her next call, her next email, and he even longed to hear the next silly rumor about them which reminded him, by the fact that their situation was common knowledge, that it was real, and solid enough to have become common knowledge without any big problems. Sure there was shock and criticism at first, but in the end, after people realized how much they cared about each other, they were happy for their respective monarchs.

Bowser wasn't the only one looking forward to having any form of contact with Peach again, which he knew was very much worth the wait. The koopalings also looked forward to seeing Peach. Right now Ludwig was perhaps the one who hoped the most out of the eight, after being charged with the duty to perform some kind of father-son activity to keep Bowser busy so he wouldn't push Peach into blocking his number over so many calls, not that she would.

But alas, Kamek had insisted, to save his own skin, Ludwig annoyingly concluded, that a sort of father-son activity would be good for Bowser to let out the anxiety of the wait for Peach to return his calls, so they could settle in the time and place of their next date. Hence why Ludwig, being the eldest son, quite unwillingly ended up having to fish for Cheep-Cheep at a lake. It was an activity that required the quiet patience that Bowser didn't have, and was accomplished with the simplicity that didn't interest Ludwig.

Bowser knew that Peach would call, Ludwig knew he would be free of having to continued fishing, and deep down, they both knew that there was a possibility that if they waited at the lake a little longer, they would catch a Cheep-Cheep or two. They knew of the good things that were to come, yet found themselves impatient for them to arrive, despite how steady their coming was. However, they had the consolation that the wait would not be in vain, because good things are worth waiting for, and many good things were to come.

Besides, Bowser had sent Toadsworth some rare tea leaves and a couple of expensive golf clubs, so he trusted Peach's meeting would be ending very soon. It is true that good things are worth waiting for, but if possible, why not speed them along?

End of Event 51

I trust a certain someone caught the hint (cough)thisisabribe(cough). Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. 


	52. Bowser the Bishonen

Vacation

Event 52: Bowser the Bishonen

It all began one Friday night when Bowser was all alone in his room, looking at the stars out the window, bored out of his mind. In this lovely night, the Koopa Castle was practically empty, as most of the Koopa Troop was, out parting with their friends and significant others, but not our favorite Koopa King, even his own subjects never invited him to come along. He didn't care, or at least he pretended not to care.

So what if they exclude him from all the fun because they're afraid of having him scare away whatever new friends they might meet. As long as they were back before Monday morning it didn't matter. It was an unspoken law between the Koopa Kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom, that there would be no wars during the weekends; after all, everyone needs to take a rest from the routine of King Bowser Koopa kidnapping Princess Peach Toadstool every weekday.

As Bowser stared at the stars, he saw a shooting star and made a wish. Little did he know what that wish would cause the next day. "I wish I was a cool bishonen then everyone would invite me to their parties and like being around me and maybe even Peach will like me." He didn't believe the wish would actually be granted and after going to sleep, he forgot all about it.

xoxox xox xoxox

The next morning came and the sun light that entered the room from the open window woke up the King of Koopas. Still half asleep, he got out of bed and went to brush his teeth.

He took a moment to yawn closing his eyes in the process and half asleep opening the cabinet behind the bathroom mirror in search of toothpaste, completely missing the chance to look at his reflection. As he brushed his teeth and started to feel more awake, he couldn't help but to have a very strange feeling. Something was different, something was out of place, but he just couldn't tell what it was.

When he was done brushing his teeth, Bowser placed his toothbrush and toothpaste back in its place pushing the cabinet closed as he turned around, once again missing his refection in the mirror.

Then it happened, he had an itch on his back. Without thinking too much of it, he scratched his back making the annoying itch go away, that's went the realty hit him. How could he scratch his back with his shell on?

"My shell!" Bowser exclaimed in a panicked voice. "It's been stolen! It must have been Mario. Yes, it has to be him, just wait till I find him!" Without taking a moment to realize that being shell-less also meant being naked, he ran as fast as he could towards Mario's house.

xoxox xox xoxox

As Bowser ran out the front door of the Koopa Castle, Kamek who was feeding the piranha plants, saw him. He blinked in confusion, wondering what a clothe-less young man was doing in the Koopa Castle in the first place. Wait, that hair, that spiky orange hair like fire, could it be? He had to know for sure, so Kamek the magikoopa followed the strange young man.

xoxox xox xoxox

Bowser arrived at the Mario bros' house, only to find it empty. A note taped to the door read: "Dear future customers, your pipes will have to wait until Monday, because we don't work on Saturdays and Sundays."

'They must be at the Mushroom Kingdom Castle,' Bowser thought, and without a moment to waste, he ran to castle, with Kamek following not too far behind.

xoxox xox xoxox

Still not realizing that he was showing much more than he would want to, Bowser ran right into the Mushroom Castle, ignoring the guards telling him to stop. Several female screams were heard and when Kamek came running after Bowser, he saw several maids uncurious on the floor after fainting.

Finally, Kamek made it to the throne room where Bowser was demanding that his stolen shell was returned, or next Monday early in the morning, he would send out his entire army to declare a real war on the Mushroom Kingdom.

Everyone in the room, the Chancellor, Mario, Luigi, Daisy who was visiting, Toad and several members of the royal council, just stared in disbelief. The first to get over the shook of having a stranger walk into the throne room with nothing to wear and yelling about a stolen shell, was Luigi, who immediately covered Daisy's eyes with both hands.

Kamek tapped the angry young man on the shoulder. "What?" Bowser yelled angrily. Kamek looked at his eyes, because everyone knows that when someone changes species, their eyes stay the same. Sure humans could have red-orange hair, but this was the first human Kamek ever saw with eyes as red as his hair. "It's you, isn't it? You're Bowser!" Kamek had taken care of Bowser since he was practically an egg and after babysitting for so many years, he could recognize him no matter what.

"Well of course I'm Bowser! Don't tell me you don't recognize me simply because I don't have my shell!" Bowser was still unaware of the fact that he was no longer a koopa. However, with those words another fact came into his mind. 'If I don't have my shell then...' Bowser looked around the room and spotted the curtains on the window. Wishing that Peach had chosen a color other than pink for the curtains, he pulled one of them off the window and tied it around his waist. "You could have said something before!" He yelled at Kamek, turning bright red. First it was the panic of having his precious shell stolen and now it was the embarrassment of knowing he had run ran all the way to the Mushroom Kingdom naked that kept Bowser's mind too occupied to realize he wasn't a koopa.

"Have you looked in a mirror?" Kamek asked and before Bowser could answer the rather obvious question, with a wave of his wand the magikoopa created a large mirror in front of him.

Bowser stared at his reflection wide eyed, jaw almost touching the floor. "What the...? Change me back!" It was all too shocking for Bowser to realize it was in fact he who wished for this to happen.

"I will try," Kamek directed a large portion of magical energy at Bowser. However he did not turn back into a Koopa, but his ears where pointy now giving him and elf-like look that made him even cooler. "Sorry, looks like there's greater magic at work here."

"What? I can't stay like this! I miss my shell!" Then Bowser ran, he ran all the way back to the Koopa Castle.

"Oh dear," Kamek sighed. "I sense a temper tantrum on its way."

Mario, who had been quietly watching as his brother wrestle Daisy to keep her eyes covered, finally spoke. "Was that really Bowser and if so, who did that to him?"

"I don't know, but who ever it was, had some powerful magic," Kamek replied.

At that very moment, Peach came into the room and greeted everyone with a polite, "good morning." Then she asked the expected question. "Who was that cute red-head wearing a skirt that looks like my curtains?" She had seen him running out and just had to ask.

By now Luigi had stopped trying to cover Daisy's eyes, since the new Bowser was gone anyway, and after a fan girl squeal Daisy answered the question. "He's Bowser, magically turned into a bishonen! Oh and that wasn't a skirt, it really was one of your curtains, he borrowed it because he didn't have anything else on when he came."

Peach stared at Daisy for a few moments, letting the newly acquired information sink in before screaming. "What? I missed that? Why did I have to stay up late chatting on the Internet? Why did I have to sleep in today?" Everyone in the room, especially Mario, gave Peach strange looks. The Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom laughed nervously then cleared her throat. "It's not easy changing species and even if the Koopa Kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom don't get along, we must show our support!" With that said, Peach quickly ran off to find the bishie.

"I'll come too!" Daisy followed Peach.

"Daisy, wait!" Luigi ran after her.

"Come back here, all of you!" Mario too followed.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile in the Koopa Castle, Kamek was trying to get Bowser to calm down. "I'm sure there's an explanation for this, we'll figure out what's going on and everything will be alright. Now just go get dressed in something other than a pink curtain." Waving his wand, Kamek made clothes appear.

Bowser picked up the t-shirt and looked at it. It was light green and had a blue 'I' followed by a red heart and a green shell. "I love shells?" Bowser read then glared at Kamek. "Thank you for giving me something that reminds me of what I miss the most"

"I thought you would like it," Kamek muttered.

xoxox xox xoxox

Bowser, now wearing the 'I love shells' t-shirt, jeans and boots, sat on the throne, which he noticed felt a lot bigger now that he was the size of a regular bishonen. "What am I going to do Kamek? I can't rule the Koopa Kingdom like this. I probably can't even kidnap Peach!" Little did he know that kidnapping wouldn't be necessary anymore.

"It'll be okay, the koopas still recognize you as their king so don't worry about that, try to look on the bright side," Kamek attempted to cheer him up.

"There is no right side!" In another temper tantrum, Bowser took a deep breath and blew at Kamek, who expected to get fried, yet the minty freshness did nothing to him.

"On the bright side," the magikoopa continued, "your breath smells good now."

"I can't even breathe fire anymore!" Bowser complained.

Suddenly, the door to the throne room was thrown open and there stood Princess Peach, smiling a smiled that scared everyone in the room. "Hi," she spoke in the most natural way. "I'm here to offer my support during this time in which you must adapt yourself to being part of a different species!" After saying a few more words of encouragement, Peach she glomped Bowser, as everyone who followed her arrived as well.

"Peach, get away from him! Don't forget that's Bowser, the evil Koopa that used to kidnap you!" Mario glared at the new bishonen.

"Daisy, that goes for you too! You should keep your distance; I'm saying this for your own safety!" Luigi insisted.

"Oh, Luigi," Daisy shook her head. "Just look at Bowser, he's harmless now, so cute and pokeable!" She poked him. "And cute and pokeable and blue... wait, blue? Peach he's turning blue!"

Peach let Bowser go, allowing him to breathe. Bowser took a deep breath, savoring every last bit of oxygen he could get into his starving lungs, still in shock that Peach had glomped him in the first place.

"King Bowser, King Bowser!" Lakitu came flying into the room. "There's an angry mob at the bridge! We're trying to keep them out, but our defenses won't last much longer!"

"What do they want?" Bowser asked.

"They're all girls, fan girls to be specific, and they demand that we give them... you, your majesty!" Lakitu revealed.

"Bowser, do you realize that humans are more fragile than koopas? That mob of rabid fan girls could very well kill you!" Kamek warned.

Before anyone could say anything else, a large group of girls of every species in their world ran into the throne room.

"To the cloud!" Called Kamek, as he, Bowser, Peach, Mario, Daisy and Luigi jumped on Lakitu's cloud and flew out a window.

xoxox xox xoxox

The cloud kept flying lower by the second, due to the weight of all the people it was carrying, until it could fly no more and crashed near the Mushroom Castle. The crazy fan girls had been following them, so they ran inside and locked the doors immediately.

As he heard the echo of the squeals coming from outside the door, Bowser couldn't help it but to worry about his new fragile existence and wonder how many bones would be broken of they caught him.

"I have an idea!" Kamek announced, waving his wand to create an image identical to Bowser. "This illusion will drive the crazy girls away and you'll be safe!" The fake Bowser then jumped out a window.

"There he is!" A girl called out and soon all of them ran off chasing the illusion that headed in the general direction of the forest, a good place to get lost.

Now that the fan girls where gone, there was a moment of awkward silence until Toad came with an announcement. "Geno from the Star Road is waiting in the tea room."

xoxox xox xoxox

Bowser, Kamek, Peach, Mario, Luigi and Daisy went to the tea room, where Geno told them that he had been watching the chaos unfold from the Star Road and thought an explanation would help. "The reason you are this way now is because you wished for it and your wish was granted."

In a flashback the moment of his wish yesterday night replayed in Bowser's mind. "I remember now!"

"If this is it's too much trouble, I can undo the wish," Geno offered.

"No!" Peach and Daisy yelled at the same time.

"Yes!" Mario and Luigi countered.

"What will it be?" Geno inquired.

"No," Bowser's choice received deathly glares from Mario and Luigi. "Today was kind of fun. Besides, I'll get used to wearing clothes instead of a shell eventually, I kind of like this new look."

"Very well then, you shall stay as you are," Geno agreed. "I must go back to the Star Road now, enjoy your wish and don't forget, for all your wishes skip the wells and the fountains, because the Star Road will grant it!"

xoxox xox xoxox

So our story comes to an end. Did the fan girls' obsession die down after a while or do they still stalk the bishiefied version of Bowser to this day? Was Peach kidnapped again next Monday or did she willingly decide to go visit? What was Mario's final reaction to this entire situation? How many different shades of blue can Bowser turn when he can't breathe due to severe glomping? Did anyone ever manage to un-wish the wish or did he really stay a bishonen forever?

What ever happened to the group of fan girls that got lost in the forest, did they figure out that they were after an illusion and found their way back, or do they still wonder around the forest to this day? So many question remain unanswered, but hey, open endings are like that. I have done my part in presenting this very strange situation to you and from here on, what happens next is up to the reader's imagination.

End of Event 52

Notes: I think bishonen is a pretty common word but in case you haven't heard it before, in Japanese a bishonen is a good looking young man, a cute guy, glomping material, fan girl worthy, however you may call them. A glomp is a strong hug. Special thanks go to Jeshi (Mentality at its Worst).

Disclaimer: I don't own Mario, or Bowser or Peach or any other Nintendo characters. 


	53. Missing You

Vacation

Event 53: Missing You

It was so dream-like,  
His logic was on strike,  
It was an illusion,  
That was his conclusion.

This wasn't something,  
The king world do,  
But tied by red string,  
A lover true.  
He waited for her,  
The days a blur,  
At her door,  
Sitting on the floor.

Like a puppy left alone,  
He held close his phone,  
Waiting for Peach,  
Practicing his speech.

She would be received,  
Happily, he believed,  
He missed her so,  
Time moved slow.

When she returned,  
A reward he earned,  
With him she would,  
She knew, feel good.

Because she missed,  
His company most,  
So they got close,  
Then finally kissed.

End of Event 53

This is a welcome back gift for Razzi (*cough*updatesoonbribe*cough*). The story behind the poem about Bowser waiting for Peach to return from a vacation in an unknown place, hence why he doesn't just go find her. When she comes back, she reveals she missed him the most and he gets a pleasant surprise. Disclaimer, I don't own Peach or Bowser. 


	54. Appreciation of a Steak

I'm sure you all remember this. I moved it into the collection so that all my BxP one shots would be in one place.

Vacation

Event 54: Appreciation of a Steak

Peach sat on her chair, looking quite uncomfortable. The chair was made of wood, covered in soft read plush material. The pillow fluffy covers were rather comfortable, but it wasn't a physical discomfort that she was feeling. She was having trouble dealing with certain emotions that refused to keep quiet and bury themselves in the back of her mind. There she sat across from Bowser.

It wasn't the first time Bowser kidnapped princess Peach and unless she decided to willingly stay, truth be told, it wouldn't be the last. This time however, things had gone a little bit differently and it all came down to a romantic dinner, which was about to begin. While the princess continuously asked herself why she didn't just get up and walk away, Bowser simply admired her beauty.

She could feel his eyes on her face, even when she was trying to look away. She shifted uncomfortably and looked for an escape route, not necessarily a way out of the caste, since she knew she probably wouldn't get too far, but rather a way to avoid dinner. Maybe she could say that her stomach hurt. She did have an odd feeling in her tummy, but it wasn't pain.

Soon a koopa troopa waiter arrived with their food. His foot steps quietly echoed in the large stone chamber of the Koopa Castle. A large elegant chandelier hung overhead, but it provided no light as the waiter approached the table at a slow steady pace. The only light was produced by a single pink, rose scented, candle, set in the center of their white clothed table.

Finally, the set the plates down in front of each of the table's occupants. Then he set the drinks next to the covered plates, until the large golden tray he carried was empty. Peach had looked at the waiter then and said her thanks politely.

As the waiter told her she was very welcome and prepared to leave, he glanced at Bowser who looked like he was asking something with his eyes. The waiter gave a small nod then left.

Peach wondered what in the world that was all about. She decided to let it slide and looked at Bowser, waiting for him to uncover his plate. They sat there, quietly looking at each other, until Peach could wait no longer and in a desperate attempt to end the unusual feeling that accompanied the moment, she removed her plate's cover, searching for a distraction in her food.

Escaping from dinner was out of the question. Somehow, she just couldn't bring herself to get out of it with a cheap excuse. It looked like it was so important to Bowser.

On her plate, Peach found a steak. By now, Bowser had caught the odd look she directed at him as if wondering why he wasn't eating and removed the cover from his plate as well. It looked like they were having the same meal, but Peach couldn't help it but to think that hers was different.

The thought of poison, thought not unheard of in rumors, didn't fit in at all. That would be the biggest impossibility coming from Bowser. That's when she realized how safe she really felt. She would deal with those new emotions at her own pace. For now, it was time to eat. Maybe after her stomach was full she would be able to think more clearly about everything.

Peach picked up her fork and knife with perfect table manners, just as she had been taught. She cut a small piece of the steak and brought it to her mouth, savoring its delicious taste. Whatever the recipe was, it was excellent. "This is delicious." She couldn't help it but to say it and besides, she wanted the silence to end.

"You know, in some parts of he world if you touch something with your lips and someone else touches it, it's like an indirect kiss. I didn't kiss your steak or anything weird like that, but I did cook it with my fire breath, so that must count for something right?" Bowser revealed.

Peach smiled, letting her emotions flow as she started to finally let herself enjoy the candle light dinner for two. "I didn't know you were such a great chef."

End of Event 54

Disclaimer, I do not own Super Mario or any of its characters. Event 54 is a gift for Razzi (ebtwisty9), to show how much I appreciate the steak; Razzi will understand what that's about. 


	55. Events 55 to 57

Vacation

**Event 55: Mirror**

At first it had begun as a desperate attempt to escape. She was tired of constantly being kidnapped. Princess Peach Toadstool ran as fast as her feet could carry her, while at the same time trying to avoid the guards that patrolled the Koopa Castle. Hearing approaching footsteps, she turned the opposite way down another corridor and came to an apparent dead end. She had been in the castle so many times and for so long, that she thought she knew her way around. Then again, she was usually locked in a room and not running around exploring.

Feeling frustrated that she would inevitably be caught as the footsteps continued to approach, Peach placed her hand gently on the wall and waited for the inevitable to happen. She was taken by surprise when suddenly she felt her hand miss solid matter and go through the wall. She pulled back her hand and looked at it. The wall appeared to be solid. She touched it again and for a second she could feel it and then it was as if it wasn't there. With no time to waste as the guards approached at a faster pace, Peach ran past the wall.

At the other side of the wall, Peach could see the guards looking confused. There was a koopa troopa with a yellow shell whose footsteps she had heard and a paratroopa with a light blue shell flying close by.

"I thought I heard something over here," Keres, the koopa troopa, said.

"Well there's nothing here except a dead end. C'mon we have to finish this round and then we get a break," Skyri, the paratroopa replied and they both left.

Peach sighed in relief and looked at the dark tunnel that lay before her. Her curiosity got the best of her and she decided to explore. Maybe she would find a way out and if she got caught she would only be taken back to her room.

Slowly and careful not to trip on the stairs, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom made her way down the spiraling passage that reached deep beyond the castle's basement. Finally, she came to a door with a statue shaped like Bowser's head on it. "Who goes there?" The stone head suddenly asked.

Peach gasped in surprise. "Peach," she answered sounding frightened.

"I was told not to let anyone in, but I know that Bowser cares about you..." the stone head told her.

Peach felt a little odd talking to a stone head, but she tried to be respectful. "Does mean I may pass?"

The head looked thoughtful. "You may," the door opened.

Peach was amazed with what she saw. She walked to the next room which was a large chamber with flowers everywhere. The gray stone floor ended at the entrance and after three steps, there was red-orange grass. Although it was the color of dry grass it appeared to be full of life. Fire flowers were everywhere.

The atmosphere was warm but pleasant. There was a small waterfall of lava shining brightly in the background. The tiny river of lava went underground after forming a circle around a small platform. It was connected to the main area by a white stone bridge, under which the lava disappeared.

There were more flowers on the platform. They looked like fire flowers, but they were pink. Peach had heard of them before, a rare kind of plant long thought extinct, she felt like the flowers were watching her. In the center of the platform, among the flowers, there appeared to be a grave, carved in polished white stone, adorned with pink jewels.

Peach approached the grave, carefully avoiding stepping on the flowers and read the inscription, "Queen Clawdia Koopa." There was also a picture of a beautiful koopa. She had rainbow hair in dark blue, light blue, pink, yellow and green. Her eyes were blue and she had a pink shell.

The dates of Clawdia's birth and death were listed below her name. Peach made the calculations in her head. The queen had died years ago before she met Bowser. Well, she had met him before, but she was only a baby back then and didn't remember a lot.

There came a point in time when Kamek vanished the Mario brothers to another world. Surprisingly, the koopas didn't try anything during that time. They were apparently preparing while their young king grew, but by the time they launched their next attack, the Mario brothers found their way back. In between, there was a time of peace.

Peach remembered that day when Bowser stormed into her castle. She feared for her safety back then. Ironically, now days she felt somewhat safe in the Koopa Castle, but didn't like worrying everyone back home.

"You're not supposed to be here," Peach turned around to see Bowser.

"I'm sorry," she quickly said. "I'm very sorry, please forgive me."

Bowser was taken off guard by her reaction. "It's alright, you didn't really do anything wrong."

"I didn't know where the passage led to," Peach explained. "I wouldn't have come here without permission if I knew it was something so personal."

"If you survived coming here then it's alright" Bowser assured. Peach looked confused by that statement so he explained. "There was an additional precaution. Anyone except me, the koopalings, Kamek and Kammy is supposed to be instantly set on fire by the flowers."

"So that's why I feel like they're watching me," Peach should have known those pink ones weren't ordinary fire flowers.

"Yes, the pink fire flowers can sense people's intentions. That's what the magikoopas said. If anyone with the wrong intentions comes here, they'll regret it. I'm really not surprised they would allow you to be here, princess," Bowser approaching her across the bridge.

They sat at the bridge and for a moment Bowser simply looked at Peach quietly. "I never noticed how much you have in common with her. The shiny hair, even the color is different, the blue eyes, the way children quickly take a liking to you, the gentle nature and that you both like the color pink."

Peach smiled, "thank you."

"So you can take a compliment," Bowser observed.

"What do you mean?" Peach asked.

"Usually, when I give you a compliment you yell at me," Bowser reminded.

"You just caught me in a bad mood because I was kidnapped," Peach paused then smiled. "But you just compared me to someone you love and that is a great honor. It's the best compliment anyone could give me."

"That's because I love you." Finally, there was no doubt in Peach's mind that what Bowser said was true. This wasn't about his rivalry with the Mario brothers and it wasn't about her kingdom. It was all because of her. Maybe, just maybe things could work out after all.

End of Event 55

xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox

**Event 56: Caught by the Media**

"A koopa!"

"It's Ray Koopa!"

The Toads were frightened away by Roy's sudden appearance out of a pipe. "My name is Roy!" He realized that he was in Toad Town. "Stupid defective pipe!" Roy kicked the pipe and quickly regretted it. He hopped around on one foot for a few seconds, but recovered fast.

A mushroom woman approached Roy, showing no fear, unlike most of the crowd. "Roy Koopa! I am Mint T., famous Mushroom Kingdom reporter. May I have a few words for our viewers?"

"Mint, we're supposed to be interviewing Toadette about her garden!" A Toad holding a camera reminded her.

"Oh, be quiet!" Mint T. preferred to report on something more exiting then flowers. "We can't miss this opportunity!" She cleared her throat and put on her best camera face. "Tell us Roy, why have you suddenly appeared here in Toad Town so suddenly?"

"The stupid pipe is broken!" Roy yelled into the microphone Mint T. was holding out to him.

"I see... So you have come to seek the help of the Mario brothers, the best plumbers in the land, to fix that stupid pipe?" Mint T. continued the interview, but Roy didn't like were it was going.

He wasn't going to let anyone give the Mario brothers free publicity during his interview. Roy snatched the microphone away from Mint T. "The Mario brothers' suck! It's their fault the pipe is broken!"

Mint T. pulled the microphone towards her but Roy refused to let it go. "Enough of that; tell us what we all want to know! Tell us about the relationship between King Bowser and Princess Peach!" To imagine how the ratings would go up after people realized that the report was something interesting, not just some boring story about flowers, made Mint T. jump with joy. "Tell us the details, we all want to know!"

End of Event 56

xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox

**Event 57: Slaying the Dragon**

Maids, doctors and nurses ran about, occasionally bumping into each other. Peach and Daisy sat side by side, with matching gloomy expressions. Mario and Luigi, their heroes, had fallen terribly ill, and the doctors were powerless to help them.

"Your highnesses," the head doctor spoke softly, with a regretful expression. "My apologies, but I'm afraid we cannot help our dear heroes. This illness that they have is not caused by a malfunction of the body; it is magically induced, no doubt."

Peach and Daisy had gathered suspicions based on the strange mismatching symptoms, but one important question still remained, which Peach immediately voiced. "Who could have done this?"

"I do not know," the doctor admitted, he felt frustrated and helpless, being unable to aid the two brave heroes who had saved his home and his life so many times. "Perhaps an expert in magic and curses would be more useful then a physician in this situation."

xoxox xox xoxox

Magicians, mages, wizards, and all kinds of magic users were called to the Mushroom Castle to assist in healing Mario and Luigi... but they all failed. At the end of their possibilities, the magic users of the land had taken to seeking ancient texts in search of a forgotten spell that could cure the heroic plumbers.

"Princess Peach, Princess Daisy!" Toad ran into the quiet, yet unusually crowded royal library where the princesses and many of the kingdom's people were studying various magic books in search of answers. Even non-magic users could help by searching and alerting the magic users of anything important they had found.

"Did you find something?" Daisy inquired, bolting from chair, followed by Peach.

All eyes were on Toad, the one who had broken the silence and hopefully brought good news. "Sir Toadswroth," Toad was out of breath from running from the old knight's chambers all the way to the royal library, "he found a cure but..."

The hopes of all those present and in hearing distance of Toad, were lifted then suddenly dropped. "But?" The tow princesses and several others insisted in unison.

"Breaking the curse that was casted on the Mario brother will not be easy... It is best if Sir Toadsworth explained," the royal library was filled with murmurs after hearing Toad's announcement. Some held on to the new ray of hope, and others wondered if the difficult task, which ever it may be, could actually be accomplished.

xoxox xox xoxox

Peach, Daisy and Toad hurried to Toadsworth chambers. The elderly mushroom was sick with a bad cold, but a few people went as far as to say he was ill with worries about the Mario brothers.

Toadsworth was sitting at his desk, re-reading over a yellowed page in a very old book, when Peach, Daisy and Toad arrived. Toadsworth look up from his reading at the expectant looks in everyone's faces. "I have found a story of ancient times, all the symptoms appear to fit... if that is the case then the same cure should work. The Mario brothers are suffering from a curse casted by a powerful wizard. Such a curse, not only requires great knowledge of magic, and great power, but it also requires time. The curse, at first is practically undetectable, it develops slowing with the flow of time, but it considered a sure death. Only one story of survival was recorded in history. Please sit down; there is no need to sand at the doorway."

They had all been so anxious to hear about the possible cure, they did not notice they were still in Toadsworth's door way. Peach, Daisy and Toad sat at the living room area of Toadswroth's chambers. He too had been in a rush to reveal the news they all wished to hear but now joined them with the door in his hands.

A persistent cough reached Toadsworth, causing him to set the book aside and cover his mouth. "Toadsworth, you should see a doctor," Peach was concerned about the elderly mushroom knight. He rarely caught colds and they were never this bad, maybe the constant worries about the Mario brother had truly made his illness worse.

"Do not worry about me," Toadsworth stammered, as soon as the cough allowed him to. He cleared his throat and continued. "This book records the cure to the curse in the form of a story which must be interpreted." Toadsworth read from the book, "The lovely lady, with a heart of snow, the dragon slayer she was called. When the monster's heart beats no more, she shall break the curse of yore." Toadsworth paused; the next part was difficult to explain. "We need a sacrifice..." Those last words were few and to the point, but carried abundant meaning.

"The sacrifice of a dragon?" Daisy had not seen any dragons; even wyverns were thought to be extinct.

"We defeated Czar, the last surviving dragon at Barrel Volcano over a year ago. Czar's ghost, Zombone, still haunts the volcano. We thought it was put to rest but a dragon spirit is hard to calm," Peach recalled.

"It gets worse," Toadsworth solemnly clarified the gravity of the situation. "I consulted other books, and they tell of using an alternative sacrifice, to spells that require sacrificing dragons. Yoshies and certain types of koopas are closely related to dragon, though most koopas are closer relatives of turtles."

Toadsword's audience gasped. "We can't not the yoshies..." Peach's heart immediately went out to them. She imagined that Mario's dearest yoshi friend, whom they also called Yoshi, would give him like to save Mario and Luigi without thinking twice of it.

That could have been part of the reason why Toadsworth wanted to speak with the princesses privately, and Toad had been sworn to secrecy when Toadsworth revealed the truth to him and sent him to find Peach and Daisy. To calm the kingdom it could be known that there was a cure, but they could not be told what it was. "Bowser is our only hope, he is one of the few dragon-koopas left, him and his children. We must choose his life or the Mario brothers. I of course would chose to save our heroes without a second thought, and I am sure our people will agree; but we cannot risk causing a devastating war. Someone will not survive this; it is either the Mario brother or Bowser. I am certain that it was Kamek who cursed our heroes long ago, I can think of no one else with enough power and knowledge in magic, to cast such a spell."

In Toadsworth eyes, and possibly in the eyes of most of the people of the Mushroom Kingdom and Sarasaland should they know of this; Bowser's sacrifice was warranted for all that he had done in the past. Even if Kamek was the one to cast the spell that cursed Mario and Luigi, he was not related to dragons as closely as Bowser, and thus his sacrifice would not work. "Is there not another way?" Peach pleaded.

"I am afraid not," Toadsworth gently set the open book on the coffee table. "The heart must be used to make a potion, or so I have interpreted. "I will have a select few look further into this matter it must all remain a secret."

xoxox xox xoxox

Peach had gone to see the Mario brothers not too long ago, and their condition had not changed. She knew they were in pain, she wanted to help them, but she did not want to make any sacrifices. She looked out her window and the world felt darker than ever as if the stars themselves were in sorrow.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Peach?"

"Come in," Peach recognized the voice as being Daisy's.

Daisy entered Peach's room and quietly closed the door. "What are we going to do? I know it sounds cruel, but if I had to choose..."

"I know, but I don't want to choose. I guess if there is no other way..." It pained her greatly, but Peach reminded herself that her duty was to her kingdom, and if her people wished for her to save the heroes, by any means necessary, then it was her duty to listen. "The lovely lady, with a heart of snow, the dragon slayer she was called. When the monster's heart beats no more, she shall break the curse of yore..." Peach recited the words from the ancient book Toadsworth had found. "It makes me wonder if the lady's heart was as pure as white snow or only cold."

xoxox xox xoxox

The next day at the break of dawn, the mushroom knights were assembled. The captain gave the knights a speech of courage, which would culminate with a few inspirational words from princess Peach, but the princess had not yet arrived and the captain continued to stretch his monologue, until he found nothing else to say. Daisy stepped forward as a guest speaker to encourage the mushroom knights on behalf of Sarasaland and assure them that troops from the desert land would join the mushroom forces and all the dangers that must be faced would be braved together.

Peach had gone to see Sir Toadsworth. His condition had taken a turn for the worse that night, which had the exhausted doctors running about at all hours of the night again. "I need to be there, it is my place!" The elderly mushroom insisted on seeing off their troops.

It was the choice of the council to save the heroes of the land. They were convinced that without the Mario brothers' protection, the Mushroom Kingdom would inevitably fall. If that was the case, then it was safer to risk provoking the anger of the Koopa Kingdom, then to leave the Mushroom Kingdom, and their allied lands exposed to danger without their heroes. Thus, troops from the Mushroom Kingdom, Sarasaland and Nimbus Land, would be send to infiltrate the Koopa Kingdom and launch a sneak attack on Bowser.

Only a few skilled soldiers of each kingdom would advance, and should their mission fail or be discovered; reinforcements would be waiting, ready for battle. This was a choice that Peach did not agree with, but the council's unanimous votes pressured her to accept it.

"Toadsworth, you're terrible ill and everyone is worried about you. You cannot encourage our soldiers if you do no take care of your own health first. They know you're counting on them, they know they have your support. They are the only ones that know the truth..." The civilians had not been told about this, it was best not to cause more concern than what had already invaded the kingdom when the heroes fell ill. "Please, go back to bed and get some sleep. I know you stayed up all night with a bad cough and breathing problems. You're almost to the point of pneumonia; don't make us worry, more than we already are."

Toadsworth knew that Peach was right. "Very well, but I want to be informed of everything as it happens."

xoxox xox xoxox

Peach arrived at the grand hall, just as Daisy's speech was ending. The Mushroom Princess spoke of the soldiers' mission, of their noble cause, and of their heroic bravery to embark on such a journey. "However, there has been a change of plans. Your mission will remain on stand by for a few days. I will be the first to attempt to infiltrate the Koopa Kingdom. I have been to Bowser's castles many times and I know he will lower his guard to me." The room was filled with gasps and protests. "I cannot allow your lives to be endangered if there is another way to accomplish what must be done."

"Princess you can't!" The mushroom captain tried to stop her. "Please, do not stain your pure hands."

"I am a reflection of my kingdom," Peach had made up her mind. "If I send my soldiers to battle, I carry the same responsibilities they do."

xoxox xox xoxox

Several Toads were waiting for Peach outside, loading her luggage into a car. "You planned this all along, and you didn't tell me until the last minute," Daisy felt as if Peach was hiding something, but disregarded it as stress.

Peach thanked the Toads and told them they could go back inside. They wanted to see her off but she insisted, and they understood she wanted a moment alone with Daisy. "For what I will do, I will dedicate my life to making peace with the Koopa Kingdom and taking care of Bowser's children as my own. Before accomplishing my mission I will make his kingdom mine, and try my best to make up for this..." It was easy to see that Peach was holding back tears.

xoxox xox xoxox

The trip was long and mentally exhausting. Peach had heard that Bowser was currently in his Darkland castle. Though it was daytime, the land made true to its name, shrouded in a dark starless sky. Peach too a deep breath and drove towards the castle.

Several koopa troopas, goombas, magikoopas, paratroopas, and all kinds of people, stared in disbelief but did not try to stop her. They knew Bowser would always welcome princess Peach, and it would surely make him very happy that she had arrived on her own free will.

xoxox xox xoxox

"The new guy that has the shift before yours is so clumsy! He broke the light on the first day." Skyri did not like having to sweep up the pieces of a giant light bulb. The aforementioned 'new guy', had ended his shift and left in a hurry, skipping out on the chore and leaving the watch tower in darkness. "It's not enough that I have to fly from one watch tower to another, and he just sits here, he had to go and skip on own fixing his own mess."

"Should we gang up on him and give him a beating?" Though Keres was only kidding, Skyri was in a bad enough mood to grin mischievously at the idea.

"Let's do it!" Skyri was a cute paratroopa, she was described by some as looking like an angel, but she had her temperamental side. "It's not like the king will complain, we make better guards than that guy anyway. Why can't we have the same shift?"

"It's supposed to make the guards more efficient is one is half way done with their shift and the other is just getting started. But you don't need to report to the next tower for a while right?" Keres also showed he had a mischievous side of his own. The blond koopa troopa wrapped his arms around the sky blue haired paratroopa. "It may sound like a contradiction, but there is a bright side to this darkness..."

Skyri giggled, Keres held her close and... the sound of a horn made them jump apart. They scrambled to find a new large light bulb and fix the tower's illumination. Down bellow there was a car, a pink car waiting at the gates... "Princess Peach?!"

xoxox xox xoxox

When Peach finally found herself with Bowser, she felt her stomach flip upside down, her heart was pounding, her eyes stung and her throat was dry, but she somehow managed to hide all of that. "Hello," Peach tried to mentally compose herself, she would have to say more than just a simple greeting.

"Peachy!" When Bowser ran to hug her, no doubt filled with hopes with her sudden willing visit, Peach did not rest the hug.

If she was to sacrifice him for the sake of peace and safety, for the wish that her people would certainly voice if they were ever asked, then she would at least grant his wish before she took it all away. "Marry me..."

Peach voice was barely above a whisper, but Bowser and his children, who had followed him and were quietly watching the events unfold, heard her clear as crystal.

Bowser thought that he was dreaming. He held on to Peach afraid to wake up and lose her. Peach stepped back and looked into Bowser's eyes awaiting his response. This was more than just a dream. "I'll marry you again, as many times as you want. I love you."

The koopalings cheered while Peach and Bowser shared a kiss, and they thought her tears, were tears of joy.

xoxox xox xoxox

Peach was in a hurry to finish her mission. She did not want to go through with it, but the Mario brothers did not have a lot of time left. Peach had requested that all the legal documents be taken care of first, whether a coronation and wedding ceremony occurred or not, it would not matter; because Peach was the new Koopa Queen by law and she did not have time for a party.

The rumors in the Mushroom Kingdom told of a secret cure, hidden in the Koopa Kingdom. Surely that tyrant King Bowser, would force their fair princess into marriage again in exchange for the lives of Mario and Luigi. Bowser did in fact hold the cure, a fact that the Koopa King was not aware of, but that cure was not a potion or amulet as people had imagined.

After all the necessary documents were signed, Peach suggested going on vacation before sitting down to plan the wedding ceremony. "I heard the hot springs at Nimbus Land are beautiful this time of year."

Nimbus Land... Weren't they having a bit of a dragon ghost problem lately? But if his beloved Peach wanted to go there, then Bowser would agree without a second thought. He would just have to protect her.

xoxox xox xoxox

"I wish you a safe trip..." Peach and Bowser were about to leave, Kamek and Kammy had insisted on having Bowser give the high ranking commanders their orders for his absence. It was only a way to get a moment alone with Peach, and when Bowser was busy speaking of his future with Peach, which wasn't what he was supposed to be talking about anyway, Kamek slipped away.

"Thank you," Peach caught Kamek's suspicion right away.

The elderly wizard had no intentions on hiding the truth since he was certain that Peach already knew. "I was the one who did it, in case you wondered. It was done long ago when the Mario brothers were still babies. I curse Luigi before Yoshi and baby Mario were able to rescue him. Luigi passed the curse to his brother by their strong bond of siblings, and that prolonged Luigi's life, but in the end, they both fell. I know you wish to obtain the cure."

Peach was silent. If Kamek knew about her plan then it was all over; if he interfered, if he stopped her... if he revealed the truth to world...

"The lovely lady, with a heart of snow, the dragon slayer she was called. When the monster's heart beats no more, she shall break the curse of yore. I won't stand in your way." Kamek vanished into thin air, teleporting himself to a location unknown to Peach.

Peach was shocked beyond words, she had assumed that Kamek would defend Bowser, but he had stepped aside. Was it that he did not believe she could do it? It certainly wasn't in her nature, but the council had decided and her people would surely support that choice if taken to votes. The stage was set and Zombone would be blamed. Peach couldn't afford to be suspected, yet at the same time, she wanted to be stopped.

xoxox xox xoxox

Prince Mallow had invited Peach and Bowser for tea. Peach accepted, and Bowser agreed only because she did. The conversation that occurred in the tea room was small talk between Peach and Mallow. They spoke of the weather, of the trading between their kingdoms, nothing too deep.

Finally Peach and Bowser were shown to their rooms so they could settle in, then visit the hot springs. Peach had noticed Bowser looking a little light headed as he headed to his room. She heard a thump and immediately ran after him. "He's alive, only sleeping."

Peach nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise. Mallow had been very sneaky in approaching the room, and even more so with Bowser's tea. "Is this to make it easier for me?"

"The story you told me about from that ancient book, it does speak of a lovely lady, but when the story was interpreted, it was decided that it was the dragon's heart that mattered. You lured him here and made him lower his guard; you don't need to do anything else. I'll send the soldiers I have on stand by to retrieve the heart and deliver it to the selected wizards so that they might create the cure." Not once did Mallow pronounce Bowser's name, it felt too person if he said it, even if it was personal either way. The koopa lying unconscious on the floor was not a stranger to Mallow. After traveling with Mario, Peach, Bowser and Geno to find his home, Mallow had come to look at all of them as dear friends. His parents even kept statues of all five of them as heroes of Nimbus Land.

"If it doesn't work, it will all be in vain... Please Mallow, leave this to me..." Peach felt the tears coming back. Even if it was in sorrow, she had to do this. The sorrow of losing Mario and Luigi would be greater, not even for her, but for her people, for her allied lands, for her friends...

Mallow nodded sadly and gave Peach a dagger. The blade's handle was elegantly decorated with gold and sapphires, but the blade itself was very sharp. The young prince left the room in tears, he had wishes to stop crying, he had promised to hold back his tears, but this time he could not.

Peach looked at her reflection on the blade. "Cold as snow..." Peach lifted it over Bowser's heart and froze in place. She willed her hands to move down, while her mind screamed in pain, but she stopped less than an inch away from stabbing Bowser's heart. "I can't..." and she cried, because her heroes would die, because she let everyone down, and most of all, because she came so close to killing a man who loved her so much. "Forgive me..." She tossed the dragger on the floor and hugged Bowser, letting her tears flow. "Please forgive me..." she kissed him gently, thinking he could not feel or hear anything, in his state, but she was wrong.

When Peach looked up she saw Bowser had opened his eyes. He hugged her and let her cry while gently stroking her hair and offering a few words of comfort. "I still love you..."

"How could you? I nearly killed you. If you were awake, why didn't you say something?" Peach was sad, ashamed, in deep regret, and in a panic. She didn't want to lose Mario and Luigi, and she didn't want to hurt Bowser.

"If you hated me enough to kill me, then if it's best if I'm put out of my misery..." There was no anger in Bowser's voice, even in their current situation he sounded loving towards Peach. "Peach, tell me what this is about. I know this can't be your idea, it's not like you. Who is making you do this?"

"Unless they are given your heart in a potion, Mario and Luigi will die. I was supposed to make it stop beating..." Peach replied between sobs.

"Princess Peach! Princess Peach!" Mallow's voice echoed down the halls. He froze and stared with wide frightened eyes when he realized that Bowser had already woken up. He should have guessed the effect wouldn't last more than a few minutes.

"Explain yourself fluffy, you're too soft to push Peach into something like this. Who is behind this entire plot?" Bowser demanded to know. He held Peach protectively, as if to assure her that who ever made her go this far would pay.

"I ran back here to say that the Mario brothers have miraculously recovered..." Mallow had just received news from the Mushroom Kingdom. Even Toadsworth was feeling better after Mario and Luigi got up as if they were not sick in the first place. The magic users tending to them could no longer detect the curse, and the Mario brothers' only complain was their empty stomachs, which was immediately solved with a banquet.

Peach's short conversation with Kamek replayed in her mind. "The lovely lady, with a heart of snow, the dragon slayer she was called. When the monster's heart beats no more, she shall break the curse of yore."

"Isn't that the cure for one of Kamek's old curse spells? The curse actually activated? But it was already broken, right? Before the plumbers kicked the bucket... Oh well it doesn't matter. I think I'll invite Mario to my wedding; he'll never live that down. Is there still a wedding?" Kamek had told Bowser about this long ago. Bowser knew that if the curse was ever to be activated, it would be broken because Peach already held his heart, and it was as close as it would get to the heart of a dragon.

'The lovely lady with a heart of snow', Peach was the lady, with a heart as pure as freshly fallen white snow. 'The dragon slayer she was called', Peach was the only one who could get Bowser to do whatever she wanted if she set her mind to it. 'When the monster's heart beats no more', Peach did not think of Bowser as a monster, and thus she could not bring herself to sacrifice him, because deep down she truly cared about him. 'She shall break the curse of yore', Kamek knew it would happen this way from the start, that was why he did not try to stop Peach, he didn't know the story had been misinterpreted.

"It was only a misunderstanding..." It had all happened too fast. The pain and fear pushed her, and so many others into doing and saying things that they did not wish to do or say. "It was all to break that curse." Peach sighed, and Mallow slipped out of the room to give them a moment alone. "We were already married once, then we signed the documents, but I'm not ready for another wedding..."

Bowser knew this was coming, he still felt a bit disappointed, but Peach still had her arms around his neck, she was still pressed against him as if she felt safe in his arms, and he had never held her like this before, plus he got a few kisses out of this entire misunderstanding, so he was a lot happier than he could possibly be sad. "That's fine, if you want to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom I understand, but don't forget to come see your husband every now and then."

Seeing Bowser's truly happy smile, Peach smiled back. "I won't forget," and she remembered...

End of Event 57

Disclaimer, I do not own Super Mario. Mint T. is an OC.


	56. Event 58

Vacation

Event 58: Destined

Peach's Perspective

Meeting the Alien

"Your highness, they won't listen to reason, they're preparing to attack!" The general was far more alarmed than a man of his position should be.

The king's expression was solemn and regretful. "They won't stop as long as they believe we killed their prince. We have no choice but to defend ourselves."

I close my book and sigh. I've read this story a thousand times. It is a tale about two kingdoms; there had been a certain friction between them for many years, until the rulers of both lands decided to sign a peace treaty.

The book elaborates on the history and culture of both lands, as if the author placed more attention in imagining that fictional world instead of the plot itself. The plot is only half there, told from the perspective of one of the kingdoms, the Mushroom Kingdom.

The book ends before the peace treaty was signed. The prince of the Koopa Kingdom went missing and the Mushroom Kingdom was accused of being responsible for the disappearance. They claimed that the peace treaty was a trick to make the koopas lower their guard so that the Mushroom Kingdom could take revenge by killing the young prince, Bowser.

The book does not explain anything about what evidence the Koopa Kingdom used to draw that conclusion. It is all one sided in terms of the narration, but the author was careful not to make the koopas sound like senseless villains. The reason for their accusations is never revealed, but the author gives faith that there must have been a reason.

We never find out what happened to the missing prince. He was assumed to be dead, but the story never confirms it. The book ends amidst a war between the two kingdoms, when the queen escapes with her infant daughter and gives her life to save her. The princess ends up in an orphanage in a far away land with no knowledge of being a princess.

I imagine that if there was a sequel to this book, it would detail the conclusion of the war, reveal what truly happened to prince, and tell the story of how the princess discovered who she was. But the book has no sequel that I know of, and no matter how hard I search I cannot find any information on the author whose pen name is Toadsworth.

Despite all of that, this is my favorite book. When I was growing up at the orphanage I used to imagine that I was the princess in the story. In my idealistic childish mind, the princess would grow up to find the missing prince, fall in love, and together they would return to their kingdoms and restore peace. This book is one of the only things I have from my biological parents.

On the day that Sister Maria found me, there was no dramatic thunderstorm or pouring rain. The sun was shining and a soft breeze blew signaling the coming autumn. I was abandoned at the door to the orphanage in a pink basket, the name Peach Toadstood written on a golden mushroom shaped locket that won't open. Sister Maria is certain that there was no key in the basket.

I still have my locket; I always wear it and have never tried to force it open. I'm curious to see if it has a picture of my biological family, but I don't want to break it trying to open it.

Eventually I was adopted by a young couple who could not have children of their own. I actually had several possible parents who wanted to adopt me but Sister Maria kept me in the orphanage thinking that it wasn't the right time. I didn't understand it as a child, but now I'm thankful. My adoptive parents took good care of me, protected me and gave me a home, love and an education.

When I was twenty-two years old, my father became the mayor of New York City, and because of that the past year has been very busy for me. I've been helping out as much as I can, though it's frustrating that the press portrays me as little more than a pretty face, when I am in fact my father's main political advisor. He had always told me he couldn't have made it without me.

One day we were invited into a relatively small research facility in Brooklyn as part of a business trip. It turns out that it wasn't as small as I thought. The building was huge but it was hidden underground. The facility codenamed Turtle worked directly under the NASA as the place of safe keeping and study of an alien specimen codenamed Dragon. My father was given the task to ensure the protection of the facility's secret.

I saw Dragon when I was there. The being was a cross between a turtle and a dragon, the body of a dragon in a green turtle shell with white spikes. The alien had flaming red hair and eyes of the same color. He looked angry, frustrated, vicious, violent and deadly, but at the same time very sad.

I could not see Dragon up close, they told me he was very dangerous and could even breathe fire should he break the restraints that covered his mouth. They shared theories about him as if he was nothing more than a lifeless archeological object, nothing but a dinosaur's bones.

Since that day I have not been able to get Dragon off my mind. I believe all living creatures have feelings, even if they express them in different ways. What they're doing to him is terribly cruel and I cannot allow it.

I spoke to my father about it, but despite the location of Turtle in Brooklyn, it is outside of his jurisdiction as mayor. Besides, I know they won't listen to him so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I'll start by infiltrating the facility. My field of study has always been related to politics; maybe I believed I was the princess from my book for so long, that I wanted to prepare to lead my people. But I'll find a way to get a job in at Turtle, and I will see Dragon again.

Feeding the Alien

I absolutely hate being this way, pretending I need to stay in late redoing my work, when I in fact completed it in half the time I was expected to take. I hate being seen as a brainless pretty face, giggling girlishly and batting my eye lashes so that these shallow men in lab coat believe I'm too stupid to be planning something.

I laugh at their insensible jokes and reply to all dinner invites with the same ambiguous "I'll think about it." Then, just when they're certain I'm harmless, I glue my eyes to one of them, the leader, the one with all the keys and access cards, until he comes to me.

I get up pretending to head towards the coffee machine in the corner of the lobby. A simple secretary isn't allowed into the lab and it is not my field of expertise anyway. But I am a strategist, I'm far more cunning than they imagine. My parents taught me to defend myself and I eventually grew out of my fantasy that everyone is good and kind. However, one thing I did not lose, and my parents told me I should always treasure, was my compassion and the belief that though not everyone is nice, there are nice people in the world.

"Peach..." That man in the white coat may look handsome to most women, but I see nothing but a cruel pig.

"Oh..." I giggle dumbly and pretend to trip. "Goodness, I'm so sorry," I allow my heel to slip from my foot embracing that man for support. For a split second my stomach does a flip and I feel sick. But I straighten up; link my hands behind my back and smile, forcing my food to stay in my stomach.

He laughs; I bet he got an ego boost out of this. "You're a mischievous girl, Peach."

"What ever do you mean?" I feign innocence.

"How about dinner?" He changes the subject.

"Um...I need to work but... um... how about another time..." It's hard to pretend I'm nervous when all I want is to slap him so hard he'll have my handprint on his face for the rest of his life.

"Never mind the paper work, come with me." He comes closer.

I back away, "oh no I can't... besides, I've only known you for a week. I wouldn't have dinner with a man unless I've know him for like a month?"

He laughs obnoxiously. "Sounds alright, good things are worth waiting for." He looks me up and down then finally leaves. That pig will never lay his hands on me and he is very wrong to think I want to have my hands anywhere near him, unless it's to punch him.

As soon as they scientists are gone and the facility is closed for the night, little miss dumb blonde secretary goes back to work, to finish the simple report she was too stupid to do on her first try. At least that's why they think, but now I hold the keys and cards I need to see Dragon again, which I stole from the director's pocket.

The security guard assigned to watch the multitude of monitors from the many security cameras always falls asleep, save for that one time when I kept him up talking. He thought I was flirting, but I just want to learn how to operate the security room.

I turn the cameras off and tip toe out of the security room. With the stolen keys and access cards, I make my way to the most prohibit areas of Turtle, I can go see Dragon.

"Hello..." There are three cages, one inside the other. Additionally this room is fortified and the door was incredibly heavy. He's chained with a par of cuffs on each arm and leg, one on his tail and one around his neck, plus the mask that prevents him from opening his mouth more than just a little bit, just enough to eat, but not enough to breathe fire beyond small sparks.

The security to enter Turtle is relatively easy to bypass, this place is a big secret so they are not expecting anyone to try to break in. But the security to prevent Dragon's escape appears to be excessive, yet somehow I know it's not, I can almost feel how strong he really is. Such a proud being should not be kept in captivity, and my heart shatters at the thought.

"Please don't worry, I'm here to try to help you," I unlock each cage. "We can't escape tonight but I'll get you out of here somehow. I enter the last cage and look into his eyes. He understands my words I can feel it. "Trust me..." I don't know why, but I'm not afraid of him at all.

He rushes towards me, hands on my shoulders and for a split second I'm scared, then I realize that he's not applying pressure to his grip, nor is he using his claws.

"Dragon, please..." He lets me go. I breathe in relief and instinctively glance around the room. The food they give him doesn't look appetizing at all. It's probably high in nutrients and very healthy for him, but it doesn't look tasty. I want to offer him some of the delicious snacks from the vending machines in the lobby, but I'm not sure if that will bring negative consequences.

He looks at me in curiosity, as if he knows me and is wondering if I recognize him. But that's silly, I'm certain we've never met before, aside for that one time when I first saw him. Or at least I don't remember meeting him before then.

"Can you digest sweets?" I don't even know if he can speak and here I am asking if he can eat sweets. I reach into my pocket and pull out a mint, then hold it out to him.

Dragon takes it and carefully removed the wrapper with the skill I would only expect to find in human hands. He eats the candy and looks satisfied.

"You liked it?" My amazement continues when he nods. "Stay here, I'll get more snacks for you. And when I have a plan, I'll get you out of here."

He nods and waits for my return. I rush back to the lobby to get some snacks from the vending machines; then go back to the depths of Turtle where Dragon awaits. My arms are overflowing with as many snacks as I could buy. Cookies, chocolates, cheese snacks, candy, soda; I really hope it's alright for him to eat this.

Hugging the Alien

After my meetings with Dragon I put everything the way it was, I close the cages and turn the cameras back on. They don't notice the missing footage and if they ever did, I'm sure they would blame a technical failure.

Sometimes, Dragon gets impatient and tries to leave, but I talk him into staying. It would be too dangerous to run away before we find a safe place to hide.

Dragon may look like he's rough, but he's surprisingly soft and cuddly. He really likes hugs. One thing I cannot understand is why my heart beats to fast when I'm close to him. At first I thought it was because in the back of my mind I feared being caught, but I think it's something else.

I heard the scientists were feeling troubled because their precious specimen didn't eat. Then they complained about the empty vending machines and failed to make a connection, and they dare to call themselves geniuses. The director didn't even care about his lost keys and access cards, he just got more copies. They have too much faith in the fact that Turtle's true purpose and their prized Dragon are a secret.

Next time, I'll make sure to secretly throw away that nasty food so they think Dragon ate it. Today I brought more sweets, but also some fresh fruits, vegetables, rice, meat and healthy things. I also brought a book to read to Dragon. It's the book that was found with me, Mushroom Kingdom Chronicles, by Toadsworth.

As usual, I disable the security cameras and make my way to the area where Dragon is kept. "I'm back," he looks happy to see me. "I brought you some yummy things and I'll read my favorite book to you."

Though the iron cage is cold, I feel warm sitting on his lap, my back resting on his arm. I didn't finish the entire book in one night but he listened with attention, though the look in his eyes was as if he heard about the world in the book before. I read to him a little every night, until I had read the whole book.

He always hugged me tightly before I left. He didn't want to be apart from me, he wanted to escape. But I would always calm him and tell him the time wasn't right yet. "Be patient, Dragon." I gave him a kiss on the forehead and left.

The way his hands are, I don't think he's supposed to move on four legs, but he can't stand up straight without breaking the chains. I think he can do it, but he understands that the time isn't right, and trying anything now might ruin his chances of ever escaping.

A few days later I managed to get that mask off. I gently caressed his face, "that feels better doesn't it? But you have to put it back on when I leave. I have to turn the cameras back on before going home."

"I love you Peach," my heart nearly stopped and I stared at Dragon, wondering if I imagined his voice.

"What?" It can't be... Dragon spoke to me, but how could he? Why would a being who is smart enough to speak be kept in a place like this? Even if they say it's for the good of science, that's no excuse.

"I love you," he repeats.

"Dragon... Do you understand what you're saying?"

"Of course I do, and my name is Bowser not Dragon. I am Prince Bowser Koopa," it's just like my book, is he only copying the book?

"That's only a story. My name and the princess' name, that's only a coincidence..." Or perhaps Toadsworth is related to me or knows my family. I thought about the book being a clue countless times, but I have grown out of thinking that the fairy tale is true.

"It's history," Bowser pulls something out of his shell, I'm not sure for how long he's been hiding it. It's a small golden key. "The meetings before the peace treaty was signed were really boring, but my parents always made me go and sit there listening to the adults talk even if I was just a kid. Then one day the queen brought the princess so everyone could see her. You were only a few months old so you probably don't remember, but I was four years old. Everyone was in the Mushroom Castle garden, I stayed with you the entire time." He gives me the key. "Your mother gave me that key."

As soon as I hold the key, I know what it's for. I use the little golden key to open my locket. Inside, there are two pictures, one on each half. One of the pictures is of a couple and a baby, and the other picture is of a baby and a child, but that child isn't a human. "My parents, and us..." The book didn't mention anything about aliens. Maybe the author didn't think those differences were important.

"I love you Peach, I've loved you since I first saw you. Back then I asked you to marry me when we grew up. You only giggled, but I took it as a yes."

"Bowser..." It was true, the story must have been true and this picture is proof. "Where are the kingdoms in the book, how do we get there?"

"I don't know, but I can tell you what happened. I left my parents' castle to go see you. I thought I could get to the Mushroom Castle by myself, but I got lost. Some mushroom people brought me here, to this world. I was stronger but there were many of them and I was still so small... They didn't want peace between the kingdoms."

"Then the accusations were not completely false," somehow I feel responsible for what happened to Bowser. I was only a baby at the time, but people from my kingdom started the chain of events that caused the war and pushed my parents into sending me away so I wouldn't be killed in revenge for the Koopa Prince that was thought to be dead. But Bowser is alive, and I feel I should try to make this up to him.

Kissing the Alien

"Kiss?" I stare at him as if I'm seeing him for the first time?

"Huh?" Of all the possible replies, this is all I could come up with.

"You usually give me a kiss before leaving," it's true but...

"That was different, I didn't even know you could talk," but deep down I somehow knew I wasn't cuddling with him like one would cuddle with a pet, and it wasn't the same kind of kiss one places on the forehead of a dear child. It was different and I knew it, but I didn't realize it.

"I'll never speak again."

"No, that's not what I meat... just... well..." I'm not even sure what I'm trying to say. I don't have an excuse and it changes from a matter of why to a matter of why not. Then I ask myself that question, why not? And before I can find a suitable answer I give him a quick kiss on the cheek and I'm on my way out as usual, heart beating unusually fast.

Saturday had come, and at home my adoptive parents were worried. They know I'm not really staying late to work, I never told them I was. I only said I had something important to do and did not say what it was. Even now I don't lie, "trust me," is all that I say, but I know that's not quite enough. I want to tell them the truth but that will only make them worry.

The arrival of visitors is welcomed. Pauline and Mario are here to invite me to join them. Luigi and a new friend are waiting at a cafe. This is the perfect escape and I take it without a second thought.

Pauline and I have known each other for a long time since we grew up in the same neighborhood. I think she suspects I'm doing something that might not be entirely legal, but she hasn't said anything about it.

Mario and his brother Luigi are from Italy, they moved to Brooklyn a couple of years ago. Mario and Pauline started dating a few months ago.

At the cafe, Luigi is waiting with a girl I haven't met before, but looks familiar. The new girl seems to recognize me and runs over to me as soon as she spots me, "Peach!"

"Hello, nice meeting you..."

"Daisy, and it's so good to finally see you in person. I volunteered to be the one to come find you, I was curious about this world, plus I'm one of the few who can blend in easily. But I didn't know I would find you this quickly. It's good that you didn't go too far from," she pauses, "Brooklyn, was it? Yes, Brooklyn."

"You were looking for me?" I wasn't expecting that.

"Daisy, maybe you we should all sit down," Luigi advices as if he knows a surprise is well on its way.

The five of us sit down and Daisy looks like she'll burst if she doesn't tell me what she needs to tell me, "I'm your cousin from another world!"

I blink, and stare, then feel my eyes water and my heart pounding. "Princess Daisy of Sarasaland," I remember her from the book.

"Yes! Oh, that's right I almost forgot; I heard they left Toadsworth's book with you, that's why you know about Sarasaland, right?" Daisy had been getting strange looks since she mentioned being my cousin from another world.

Now we are both getting strange looks as we talk about that other world. "Yes, I've read that book so many times. I thought there could be clues about my biological family in the book, but I didn't realize it wasn't a fictional story until recently. Before that, the thought of another world was something only a child would believe. Is it possible to go back? How is everyone? Is the war over?"

"The war ended recently, about a year ago. Your father wanted to look for you sooner, but the kingdom was left in bad shape. The koopas were strong opponents even with help of Sarasaland and Nimbusland. He kept worrying that you wouldn't want to go to such a place, especially since you grew up here." Daisy paused and looked at everyone's expressions, "you guys can come too if you want."

"I want to go," and all eyes shift towards me. "I want to help everyone recover from the war."

"That's good to hear because we really need it. The royal advisors, Kamek and Kammy are in charge of the Koopa Kingdom now, after the king and queen passed away. Even after the criminals who killed Prince Bowser were caught and confessed, the war didn't end for years. The entire Mushroom Kingdom was blamed because of the actions of a few, it was so unfair," I could see Daisy's frustration, but her information isn't entirely accurate.

"The ones who kidnapped Bowser confessed to have killed him?" It was a lie, "they must have said that to fuel the war to continue. They didn't want peace between the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdoms."

While Mario, Pauline and Luigi continue to listen with astonished looks, Daisy nods, "yes, it could be because of that. They didn't sound sorry at all."

"They were lying," I clarify. "But we can go back now, we can restore peace! I'll help Bowser break out, then he can finally go home!"

"What?" Daisy stared wide eyed and open mouthed, "Bowser? Prince Bowser Koopa?"

"Yes! I found him! He's being held prisoner in a research facility where they think he's an alien," I suppose that technically he could be classified as such, but he's still a person none the less. "We've actually been planning a break out for a while, but there was no where to go."

"Prince Bowser is alive, he's actually alive..." Daisy made a long pause, taking in this new information, "you're certain it's him?"

"Absolutely," I show her the locket with the picture.

"To be honest, though Kamek and Kammy decided to end the war, the tension hasn't lessened and the recovery process has been slow. If both the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom and the Prince of the Koopa Kingdom returned safely, that would give everyone hope. Plus knowing that it was the Mushroom Kingdom Princess who found and helped the Koopa Prince, might make the koopas who still hold a grudge forgive the Mushroom Kingdom. If only we knew sooner..." But there is no use in thinking about the what ifs, we need to focus on the here and now.

"Let's do this, let's go back together," I can finally free him...

Saving the Alien

A moment of silence occupies our table. "You lost me," Pauline finally speaks.

"Oh right, sorry," Daisy tries to explain, "you see Peach and I come from another world. There was this war going on between the Mushroom Kingdom and the Koopa Kingdom, because everyone thought that people from the Mushroom Kingdom killed the Koopa Prince, but it turns out he's alive and Peach, the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom who was hidden in this world for her safety, found him."

"Peach is a princess from another world and she's has to rescue a prince, also from that other world but a different kingdom..." Pauline repeated, "right... and all of this is..."

"True!" I point to the picture in the locket. "This picture is of Bowser and me when we were little."

"But he's not..." Pauline trails off again.

"Human? No, he's a koopa. That's why they're keeping him in a secret research facility, because they think he's an alien. We have to get him out and help him go home, he's been trapped there for so long..." Even if I have been patient with the escape plan, now that I know there is a way to help Bowser go home, I can't wait to set him free.

"Wow," Luigi breathes, "that's... wow..." I think he likes Daisy, it was love at first sight.

"Luigi, you'll come with us too, right? I would really like it if you did." It was evident that Daisy liked him back.

"Of course, your highness!" Luigi replied.

Daisy shook her head, "no, no, not like that. Don't be so formal; call me Daisy, like before."

"I guess you're right Daisy, you've always been a princess, it's just that now I know for sure," Luigi smiled and Daisy returned the gesture.

"I'm up for visiting an alien world, what do you think Pauline?" Mario asked.

"It sounds interesting, I want to go too," Pauline agreed.

"Great, then we're all going!" But our joy did not last long, for it was soon replaced with alarm.

The TV had been playing softly in the background. It was as if we filtered out the sound focusing on our own conversation. "The specimen escaped while it was being transported to an undisclosed location as a result of the suspicions of a security breach."

The image was out of focus, but I knew it was Bowser. They were taking him someplace else; he might have thought I wouldn't be able to find him, so he tried to escape. "There's no time, we have to go now."

"Right, take these stars, with these we'll be able to gain super strength and speed, but they only last a little while so don't activate them until we get there," Daisy gives each of us a star. "Also, don't get too close to the prince while the starts are in effect, these are good for humans but not for koopas."

We rush back to Turtle in Mario's car. Daisy called someone on the way. "You found them? Good, get everything ready and wait for us. We're going back as soon as we have Prince Bowser. Yes, he's alive, no, just wait for us you need your magic to transport us back, besides we have the stars."

I listened to only half the conversation but from what I heard, Daisy brought more allies. "Magic?" That word caught my attention.

"Yes, I just spoke to Kamek and Kammy; they found your adoptive parents. The pipes that used to link the two worlds no longer exist; the only way to travel between them is by magic. Kamek and Kammy were supposed to wait for me to return with you, but I guess they got impatient and started searching for you too," Daisy explained. "Sounds like they explained things to your family from this world, they'll be waiting for us at your house."

"Good, then we just need to get Bowser and head home," and by the way Mario is driving as if he was in a race car, we'll get there in no time, and hopefully in one piece.

The car screeches to a halt, the roads ahead are sealed. "Is it time for the stars now?" Mario asks, itching to try one of those super power stars.

"It's the only way we'll get through here," Daisy agrees.

We use the stars and the results are amazing. I feel stronger than I thought I could ever be, and I'm running faster and jumping higher than I thought possible. The police is trying to stop us, astonished by our ability, but they can't catch us. We didn't have to go too far, Bowser heard the commotion and came to us, just as the stars began to fade. "Bowser!"

Bowser was standing upright, with no chains anywhere to be found, breathing fire at anything and anyone that got in his way, and I'm sure the scientists already received their fiery punishment. He looks invincible, amazing. "Peach!"

"Bowser, you can go home now, they've come for us, to take us back to our world," when I feel the star's power fade completely I hug him.

Pauline, Mario and Luigi, who are not used to seeing koopas, are surprised to see the alien for the first time. "Oh, oh..." Daisy sounds worried.

"What is it?" The sound of the approaching vehicles is loud, making the ground tremble. "Tanks?!"

"They don't know how strong I really am," Bowser takes a deep breath and melts one of the tanks. "Peachy, what's that you were saying about going home? Running around causing chaos is fun and all, but I want to go home, I am the prince after all."

Before anyone can reply, the sound of a missile being fired echoes. The missile is heading straight for us, but a green dinosaur-like creature, just big enough to ride, catches it with its tongue and swallows it. "Yoshi!"

To my surprise, my father is riding on the green dinosaur, and mother soon arrives on a blue one. "Looks like they got impatient again," Daisy points at two more figures, approaching flying on brooms.

"Prince Bowser!" They call.

"Kamek and Kammy? Took you long enough to get here, let's go home!" Bowser sound impatient, and who wouldn't be after being away from his world for so long.

Kamek and Kammy chant an incantation, and we all disappear, transported to another world by magic, and reappearing in front of a castle undergoing renovations. That's how we made it back to our world.

My parents from Earth decided to stay, and I finally met my father from the Mushroom Kingdom. They are all my parents and we all live together in the Mushroom Castle now. I also met Sir Toadsworth, the author of the book.

Daisy and Luigi have been spending more time together, everyone knows they like each other. Mario and Pauline are here too. The people of this world are recovering, and peace has finally come.

I visit Bowser often. I had decided to try to make his life a happy one, and make up for all the years that were lost. He's proud and sometimes mischievous, but he's also really sweet, though he only shows that side to me.

In the end, I guess my life really did turn into the fairy tale I imagined when I was little. Okay, so maybe this time the princess wasn't kidnapped by a fire breathing dragon to be rescued by prince charming, but there's a princess, a prince who's like a dragon, and there was a rescue, so it's close enough to a fairy tale.

Toadsworth's book, though originally intended to be historical, got a novel style sequel by the same author. You know how poetic license goes, changing a few things here and there, but one thing that stayed the same was the ending, "and they all lived happily ever after."

End of Event 58

Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games or movie. Special thanks to Walkazo and overlordofnobodies. 


	57. Event 59

Event 59: Forget About Everything

Shortly after one of Bowser's goomba spies found out the truth about the Mario brother's home world the Koopa King was quick to devise a plan. It turned out the plumbers were not original of the Mushroom Kingdom nor did they come from a far away land. They came from another world. He should have known. He didn't care too much about other worlds, at least not for now. First things first, he had to take over this world and win Peach's heart. Then he might think about what's beyond, if he had time.

The spy had described with a lot of detail the conversation that took place as Mario and Luigi told their story to Peach and Daisy. The princess of Sarasaland was in the Mushroom Kingdom visiting. The two princesses had heard of the plumber's world before but still had questions and curiosity. If only there was a way to return the Mario brothers to their world. From there they couldn't cause any trouble in Bowser's plans. Perhaps Kammy the magikoopa could come up with a way.

Kammy found a powerful spell and constructed a machine to increase her magic enough to make sure beyond a doubt that the spell would be successful. However the machine was destined to go out of control unable to support the tremendous power and so our story starts.

The crash of shattering glass was heard followed by the screams of two princesses right in the middle of their girl talk. Bowser had returned to Peach's castle and it was clear that today, just like all the other times, he would not leave without her. "It's useless to call for help. Those two plumber pests are about to be sent where they belong." Just as Bowser said this Kammy worked on her spell and when the Mario brothers came to the rescue before the battle even started there was a large explosion that would signal the start of many changes in their lives.

A strange portal had appeared and the Mario brothers were being sucked into it. Peach was captive by Bowser who held her away from the portal. She tried to break free but it was impossible. "Luigi!" Daisy screamed as she rushed after the Mario brothers calling her boyfriend's name. Se too was sucked into the portal that took the trio back to Brooklyn. But that's not all for the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom, the Koopa Kingdom, Sarasaland, Yoshi's Island and all of the places in the same world would suffer an unexpected side effect.

But first we shall see what happened on Earth, in Brooklyn to be specific. "Mario... Mario, wake up!"

He opened his eyes to find the face of a woman staring right at him with tears in her eyes. He remembered her, she was Pauline. "Pauline?" Everything that happened since he arrived at the Mushroom Kingdom was forgotten now. At least he remembered his life before that.

"Mario I'm so happy you're alright!" She hugged him with the silent promise not to lose him ever again. "After you disappeared I didn't know if I would ever see you again. But you're here, it was the strangest thing. You, Luigi and a girl I don't know fell through some sort of portal. I thought I imagined it but you're here, you're really back."

Mario tried to take in all that information. A portal? His memories were gone but a few faint scenes remained in his subconscious. There was something about legendary heroes and princesses who needed to be rescued. Could it be that some kind of alien civilization had temporarily borrowed him and his brother from the Earth to be their legendary heroes? Then with their purpose fulfilled they were returned to Earth with no memories of the events that took place in that alien world. It would certainly make sense with what Pauline described. Maybe no one on Earth was supposed to know bout the aliens. He felt as if there was more to it than that. There was more information missing but he knew there was another world and he felt the love of people calling him a hero, he didn't know how but he knew these things even if he did not remember them. Yes, there was another world that was saved by him and his brother Luigi and now he was back with his beloved Pauline. "Whatever it may be I'm back now so does it matter?"

Pauline smiled and shook her head. They would be together again, that's what really counted. "Right, just don't disappear like this again."

"I won't, I promise." He didn't know why but Mario knew that he would keep his promise.

Luigi woke up not too long after his brother to find himself on his bed with a young woman in his arms. He was surprised to say the least but tried not to wake the girl in the yellow dress. Who was she anyway? He realized that a big part of his memory appeared to be missing and his first thought was to find his brother. Luigi rushed to Mario's room to find that his brother was just about to leave the room to see him. Pauline was also there she had moved in not too long ago as far as he remembered but it could have been a long time ago depending on how big the part of his memory that was missing was. The two plumbers and Pauline shared theories of the strange occurrences and agreed that it was best to be thankful for their return. "I still have one important question. Who is the girl in my room?" Luigi asked.

"I thought you would know" Pauline said. "She was in your arms when you fell here so I took the two of you to your room to rest. I didn't know where else to take her, the couch is as hard as a rock you know." She was surprised she was able to carry all of them one by one and placed them in bed to rest. I guess you never know how strong you can be until you really need it.

"Well I can't say I'm complaining." Luigi said blushing. "I was just confused."

Of course soon came the time when Daisy woke up. Since she came from Sarasaland which was in the same world as the Mushroom Kingdom and not Earth, her memories were erased completely. She was quite scared not to know who she was and where she came from but that young man with the green hat was very nice. They concluded that maybe whatever alien technology was at work was a little too harsh in this girl and erased more than it was supposed to. Since she didn't have anywhere to go she was welcomed to stay in the Mario brother's home. She had a daisy on her hair which gave Luigi the idea to nickname her Daisy until she could remember her name but since she didn't she decided to keep that name.

Time passed and the two happy couples got married, Mario and Pauline first and only a few months later Luigi and Daisy. They sometimes wondered about the portion of time that they did not remember but they were together now and they were happy, that's what really counts. But what happened in the Mushroom Kingdom, Koopa Kingdom, Sarasaland, Yoshi's Island and all those other places? Let's find out.

Kammy's spell had resulted too powerful erasing the memories of everyone all across the lands. A powerful quake shook Peach's castle causing a pillar which was already week from previous attacks by Bowser to break and fall. Bowser had no idea what in the world was going on but there was a girl with him. She was a beautiful young woman in a pink dress with golden blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. He protected her from the falling pillar and the pieces of the ceiling that came falling after it. His shell was hard enough to stand the impact so he didn't get hurt. "Are you alright?"

The girl in the pink dress was frightened from all that happened but she appeared to be ok. "Yes I think so but who are you? Who am I?" She felt the tears threatening to fall. She didn't know who she was, she felt so lost.

"I don't know but don't be scared. I'll make sure you're alright." He didn't know why but there as something special about her. As if he felt something for her that he had forgotten yet some of it remained.

"Thank you" Peach said. She was a little frightened to be so close to what looked like some sort of turtle dragon but he appeared to be friendly and he did save her.

"Um... hello" They both looked in direction to the door to find a boy. He had a white mushroom on his head with red spots. He looked scared at first but then appeared little braver and walked towards them. "Excuse me miss but that thing on your head, I think it means something. Are you in charge here? I'm a little lost."

Peach touched her head finding a crown. She held it in her hands looking at it. "This is... a crown." Though her memories were gone she was still able to recognize basic things. They all remembered what a door, window, table and chair are for example. They knew what was food and what was not for eating, with the exception of the yoshies because they ate anything anyway.

"Then you must be the queen" Toad concluded. Before Peach had a chance to reply he started calling the other people like him that he had seen. "Hey everyone come here! I found our queen!" A large group of mushroom people ran into the room. Word traveled fast and more people arrived at the castle.

"I must admit, I'm not certain I am your queen. My memories are gone as are yours" Peach said honestly.

"Well you do look like someone important" Toad said. The other mushroom people agreed. "By the way my queen, who is that?"

Peach looked at Bowser, she had no idea what he was called. She didn't even know her own name. "He is a friend of mine who saved my life a little while ago." It was the only answer she knew was true.

The people of that world, Kammy included, started trying to rebuild their history. Curiously all the books labeled to be related to history were filled with blank pages. Kammy the one responsible for this had no idea it was her doing and only remembered a few basic spells. Alliances were formed and the world was united as a new era began. The young woman who was first simply known as 'queen' later came to be called Peach. Her friend who saved her had once told her she smelled like peaches. She took a liking for that nickname and decided to make it her name. He was later called Bowser, the name had come to Peach in a dream and for some reason it seemed to fit.

Because Peach did such a great job organizing her kingdom more people turned to her for help. As time passed more societies elected her as their queen and Peach became the ruler of that entire world. What used to be the Mushroom Kingdom, the Koopa Kingdom, Sarasaland, Yoshi's Island and many other places were now a single kingdom. Peach looked after her people very well, making sure that thy all had everything they needed. Because she ruled over such a large kingdom she was constantly traveling from one land to another to tend to her people's needs and requests. With her the young mushroom boy whom was later known as Toad always came as her adviser. A green yoshi, who was called simply Yoshi and a group of magikoopas to assist her were also always present in her travels among them being Kammy and Kamek with a few others.

One that never left her side was her dear friend Bowser who enjoyed every moment he spent with Peach. It looked like a smile from her was enough to keep him happy. She came to appreciate his company very much and eventually they ruled over their world as king and queen. Sometimes only by forgetting about the past can people achieve true peace.

End of Event 59


	58. Events 60 to 62

Vacation

**Event 60: Fairy Tale Princess**

It had been several weeks since the last time Princess Peach Toadstool was kidnapped which was both good and bad. Good because she had finally caught up with her royal duties and had some free time to spend however she wanted and bad because it meant the next kidnapping was that much closer. Peach didn't doubt that soon Bowser would return to take her to his castle. She knew it was inevitable it had been the story of her life for the past few years. Like a fairy tale princess her story also had a happy ending. Her heroes the Mario brothers would rescue her. No doubt they would brave whatever dangers Bowser prepared for them, journey to his castle and save her like they always did.

Then she would be returned to the Mushroom Kingdom where her loyal subjects would welcome her and there would be a great feast with music, dancing, food and fireworks, maybe even a parade. The rescuing of the princess had become like an occasional weekend holyday in the middle of the week for the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. She wondered if anyone ever worried anymore. Toad did, that much she knew for sure, or at least he was concerned but he, like everyone else in the Mushroom Kingdom trusted the Mario brothers to keep their princess safe.

All in all, save for the little kidnapping problem Princess Peach Toadstool was an excellent ruler. Kind and fair, she led her kingdom to a peaceful prosperity. Her people lived in harmony and disagreements were rare. It was like a true fairy tail that ended happily ever after every time the story was repeated. For the princess of the story to meet her prince charming, or plumber charming, she first had to face danger and then came the peaceful time. Well maybe not so much danger in her case since she no longer felt frightened in Bowser's castle after making friends with some of the koopas.

Another week passed and life proceeded peacefully and uneventfully. The only difference was that in the last few days the princess could be seen more often outside of the castle visiting her welcoming subjects and admiring the natural beauty of her kingdom in peace. Some started to wonder if it was a good thing. Sure they were happy that Peach was safe but could this mean that Bowser was planning something big? Such rumors reached Peach's ears and soon she made a plan to calm her people throwing a ball at the Mushroom Kingdom castle. She loved to see their happy faces as they danced. Mario was there, they danced together to one of her favorite songs. Luigi was there also happily dancing with Princess Daisy who was visiting from Sarasaland.

Time continued to pass and the days felt longer for Peach. She was feeling restless wondering when Bowser would strike again. She could invite the Mario brothers over to pass the time. They were always fun to be around but then when they left her mood would once again take a turn for the worse. It was as if she was missing something but what? She sighted and changed into a different dress. Her pink gown didn't match her usually cheerful mood today. Instead she wore a dark blue dress like the color of the midnight sky in a star filled night.

One day Princess Peach and Princess Daisy took a walk in the royal gardens. "Peach are you alright?" Daisy asked concerned for her dear friend. She had noticed that Peach's mood had not been the best in the past few weeks. She didn't act angry or annoyed, just sad. She tried to smile as much as she could but it wasn't her usual natural smile.

"Yes, I'm fine, why do you ask?" Peach said forcing herself to smile. It didn't make sense to worry over something she had no control over. If she was to get kidnapped she would get kidnapped. All her previous attempts to avoid it had failed. But it didn't matter because she would be rescued like a fairy tale princess.

"You look sad" Daisy said as they reached a beautiful fountain in the center of the royal gardens. The two princesses sat down around the fountain listening to the quiet sounds of its flowing crystalline waters that reflected the soft rays of the sun.

"I feel a little odd that's all. It's nothing to worry about" Peach said. She the fairy tale princess with a fairy tale hero but she couldn't be rescued if there was no one to be rescued from.

"Are you feeling ill?" Daisy asked but she had a feeling that was not the cause of Peach's troubles.

"No, I think I'm just a little worried because it's been so long since I was kidnapped and you never know what Bowser might be planning" Peach said. True that she was worried but at the same time she wasn't. She felt in her heart that her kingdom was safe and so was she. Could it be that she missed being the fairy tale princess that was rescued by a fairy tale hero?

"Peach I know you're safe, don't worry about it. Maybe Bowser finally gave up" Daisy said though her words of encouragement seemed to have an opposite effect.

"Yes, I know, it's just that..." She was at a loss for words. She truly couldn't understand it. Could she really be missing being rescued like the princesses from the books she used to read? "Nothing really, I'll be alright." Her smile felt bittersweet as she tried to make it as true as possible.

The days passed by and another day Peach was looking at the sky from her balcony, sunset was soon to come. Daisy, who was staying at the Mushroom Kingdom castle on vacation, came to see Peach before she left to meet Luigi. "Peach are you ok?" The princess of Sarasaland asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Mario will be here soon. He said he would come by sunset" Peach said looking away from the clear skies to look at Daisy. "Did you know the ground matches the colors of the sky during sunset in the Darklands?"

"It must be scary having to watch such a sad sunset all alone" Daisy said. "Don't worry Peach, he won't come. He's never taken this long, he must have given up." The princess of Sarasaland smiled and it took a moment for the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom to return the gesture.

"It's really not that bad. The sunset there can be very poetic" Peach said. Maybe that wasn't quite the word but it was the closest fitting word that Peach could think of at the moment.

"If you say so" Daisy said. "For me it's not about the scenery but who I'm with. The scenery always looks nicer with good friends don't you think?"

"Yes, you're right. Maybe people like sunsets not for their beauty but for the peace they bring when they watch them in good company" Peach agreed.

"Right, speaking of sunsets I better go meet Luigi before he starts to wonder if I'm not going to show up" Daisy said.

"Sorry to have kept you. Have fun" Peach said.

"It's ok I still have time to get there." Daisy happily left to meet Luigi.

Peach sighted and looked at the sky again. Sunset was very near, just a few more minutes. She hoped Daisy arrived on time to meet Luigi. Mario should be there soon. Tomorrow she would visit that new candy shop that recently opened. She would wish them luck and prosperity and buy a few sweets. The princess' presence there on the first week of business would surely be a good start for them. She would see the happy faces of children as they ate their sugary sweets. It would be fun.

Then, the day after that, she had a meeting with the royal council. The meeting would most likely end early since there wasn't much to discuss. Even when she was away she still ran her kingdom from afar with the help of her trusted council. The chancellor made sure everyone fallowed the princess' plans and later they all informed her of the happenings of the kingdom upon her return. She had been there all along so there would be nothing to report that she didn't already know.

The day after that Daisy would return to Sarasaland and Peach wanted to throw a little party on her last day on vacation in the Mushroom Kingdom before she left late that afternoon. The party would start with a nice lunch and continue during the after noon until the time came for Daisy to leave. Maybe she could move the meeting with the council to a later date and she, Daisy, Mario and Luigi could go out and do something together. She wasn't sure what but something, something fun since she had some free time from her royal duties. Yes, it would be fun and peaceful and perfect, like a fairy tail but she didn't feel like a fairy tale princess anymore. "I miss him" she whispered to the gentle breeze.

"Who?" Peach heard a voice behind her. She was startled but managed to hide it well. She knew who the voice belonged to. She wasn't startled because she thought there was a stranger behind her she was startled because she knew extract who was behind her and what he had heard.

"You of course" Peach said with her best faked smile. No actress ever looked so credible. It was Mario her dear friend, her fairy tale hero. He was the man who risked everything to save her. She couldn't tell him that she missed being kidnapped by the enemy simply because it made her feel like a fairy tale princess when she was rescued. Although those were not her exact thoughts she reasoned that it was what she meant to think.

"Did you really miss me?" Mario asked smiling at the beautiful princess. She had seen him earlier that day. Although the possibility of her missing him so quickly was unlikely specially with all the emotion in her voice when she said it as if it had been weeks or months since she last saw him but her eyes were too sincere.

Perhaps her acting worked out so well because she truly cared about Mario and this was for his own good. She certainly wouldn't want to be the one to ruin the good mood that was obvious all over the Mushroom Kingdom especially not for Mario. "Yes, I missed you very much." She was always happy to see a good friend and even after being away only for a little while she began to miss them so it wasn't really a lie.

They spoke of many things that night but Peach's mind was elsewhere and the next day she would not remember any of the stories Mario told her except for one. Sometimes she would get so distracted that Mario would notice and ask if she was alright. She would tell him that she's fine and ask him to tell her about an event from his past so that the conversation would continue and he wouldn't ask her what was bothering her.

Mario told her stories of his days in Italy when he was younger. Then he told her about when he and Luigi moved to Brooklyn in America. Telling those stories brought back memories of Pauline. He had never mentioned that name to Peach but he missed her so much. For the past few days Mario's mood had been sad as well although he hid it much better than Peach did. He remembered when he took a job constructing a building. Pauline was kidnapped by Donkey Kong, a gorilla, and taken to the top of the building under construction. Mario climbed up to save her as the gorilla threw whatever materials he could get his hand on at him. Avoiding the blocks and tools thrown at him Mario arrived at the top of the building to rescue Pauline. It has been like a fairy tale for them after that.

Pauline was his fairy tale princess waiting to be rescued by her fairy tale hero. Where was she now? What was she doing? It broke his heart to think she could have found another boyfriend. It was clear that he and his brother would not find the way out of that world any time soon and he doubted Luigi would want to go back and leave Daisy. Mario never talked about Pauline but deep down he kept hopes that she still remembered him, that she didn't loose faith in him and that she still waited for his safe return like a fairy tale princess waits for her knight in shining armor to return home from a victorious battle against a fire breathing dragon.

It was then when he realized that he was reliving those moments when ever he saved Peach. He cared about her very much but he had to keep reminding himself that she was not Pauline and it was wrong of him to search her in Peach. He wondered if she would be hurt if she knew that sometimes when he looked at her he saw someone else. He wouldn't tell her, he didn't want to hurt her, it wasn't her fault. She was the fairy tale princess and he was the fairy tale hero. But a fairy tale cannot exist without a villain and until he returned the fairy tale could not continue. Maybe it shouldn't continue at all. Fairy tales were only lies and lies never brought anything but pain.

Taking a deep breath Mario prepared to tell Peach another story of his past, the story that she would always remember. "Did I ever tell you about Pauline?" He asked although he knew he had never mentioned that name to her. Luigi was probably the only person in this entire world who knew about her.

Peach's mind stopped wondering and focused on the here and now. The emotion in Mario's voice clearly told her that Pauline was someone important to him. "No, you haven't. Who is she?" As Mario narrated Peach listened, she paid close attention to every detail. He had not seen Pauline for a long time but he remembered her so clearly. He described her so well it was as if she was looking at a picture of her yet at the same time he said things in a way that sounded so poetic without even realizing it. It was as if he was telling her a fairy tale without an ending.

Pauline was Mario's fairy tale princess all along. Peach was not hurt because of that but she did feel pain, she felt her dear friend and hero's pain because he missed his love so much. She wanted to help him but didn't know how. If only there was a way for Mario to return home or better yet for Pauline to come to the Mushroom Kingdom but life wasn't a fairy tale and it didn't always end happily ever after.

The days continued to pass and Luigi often made trips to Sarasaland unless Daisy was in the Mushroom kingdom. Either she was in the Mushroom Kingdom or he was in Sarasaland. Peach was happy when Daisy came to visit. They talked and spend some time together, just the two princesses talking about future plans and how peaceful the kingdom was. Peach could see that Daisy was truly happy and so was Luigi. They would do anything for each other like a fairy tale hero who braves all dangers to rescue, or kidnap, his fairy tale princess.

One day Peach journeyed to the Darklands. She arrived at the castle of the Koopa Kingdom where everyone was too surprised to even approach her. "I came to visit so please do not worry" Peach said. The tension in the air lessened. Many had assumed that her sudden visit was because she brought bad news.

Kamek was immediately informed of her presence and he quickly came to greet her. "Welcome Princess Peach, we are certainly surprised to see you here by your self?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"I am in no danger here, am I?" Peach half asked half replied.

"Of course not" Kamek said. Some of those who worked at the castle had started to care about her offering their friendships. She was no longer locked in a room the last few times she was kidnapped. She walked around the castle freely until the Mario brothers came too close but until they did she could go anywhere inside the castle by herself.

"May I speak to Bowser?" Peach decided to go straight to the point. If she was to resolve the plot twists that the fairy tale of life had set before her in her path she needed to speak to him. Was her kingdom trully at peace? She was a little surprised he didn't come right away.

"He's not here" Kamek said quietly. He sounded worried.

"Where is he?" Peach asked.

"I don't know" Kamek said truthfully. "He said he had to go think about some things, he didn't say much else about where he was going."

"When will he be back?" Peach had a bad feeling about this.

"He didn't say" Kamek answered.

Peach paused. "When he comes back please tell him I was here. Tell him to send me a message and I will come visit again right away."

"I will" Kamek said.

"Thank you" Peach said before returning to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Peach waited without knowing that in a far away land another fairy tale princess was waiting. She was not of royal blood and didn't live in a castle but she was a fairy tale princess none the less. She waited for her knight in shining armor to return victorious from battle like in the story books she used to read. They both continued to wait and wait for the fairy tale to come to an end. By then they knew that not all fairy tales end happily ever after but they still hoped that their fairy tales would eventually reach their happily ever after.

End of Event 60

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**Event 61: Illusion of a Dream**

Have you ever felt as if you can't tell the difference between reality and illusions, what is real and what is a dream? Have you ever thought something was truth only to later find out it was a lie?

That world should have ended when the new world came but a spell was casted to allow the old world to exist in the shadow of the new one. Like ghosts and illusions they need the help of one who is alive to continue their existence. If she, the princess believes they are real then so they shall be...

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"Hero... You are not of this world so when you die in this world instead of dieing you will be return to your own." The voice was distant, gentle yet powerful. Far away, echoing all around, nowhere and everywhere in the bright empty whiteness that surrounded everything.

"I don't want to go back now" the man said. He couldn't die he couldn't leave her, not now.

"Was it not your wish? Did you not want to return?" The voice asked.

"That was before. No one is waiting for me anymore" the man said. She must have moved on, she must have. It had been so many years surely he was only a memory to her. She must have someone else and so did he. "I can't leave her!"

"You have no choice." With those words said the voice faded away and the whiteness came into focus. There was light and distant voices that were different from the first.

"We're loosing him!" A voice called.

Noises and more voices fallowed. He couldn't understand. "Clear!"

A harsh shock of electricity ran thru his body pulling him away from death's comforting embrace.

"Mario!" He recognized that voice it was the voice of his brother. He opened his eyes.

"Mario!" A young woman's voice was heard. He was back. He didn't know how but he had returned.

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"Mario..." Peach gently touched his face. It was so cold already. "Mario, don't go don't leave me."

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"Mario" Luigi called. His brother had been sitting outside for quite some time. He was very quiet and distant ever since he left the hospital.

"I can't stop thinking about her Luigi. I remember Pauline from before but Peach... I thought it had been years. How is it that I was returned here now?" Mario asked.

"Mario, you were unconscious for about an hour. You must have been dreaming" Luigi said. His brother did not appear convinced. "Dreams move faster than reality, there is no Peach."

"You were there too Luigi. Have you forgotten Daisy?" Mario asked.

"Mario... I don't know who you're talking about" Luigi said.

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In another world a couple stood in front of a grave, a man wearing green and a woman wearing yellow. Mario was gone, they thought he had died but he was returned to his world just as Luigi would be when his time came. Then it would be his turn to wake up. A year would pass before his time came but he would still wake up confused, just as Mario.

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"Luigi! Luigi!" He slowly woke up.

"You gave me a scare for a minute there. I couldn't wake you up" Mario said.

"Mario! Where am I? What happened?" Luigi asked.

"Luigi calm down, you were dreaming. You're at home" Mario said.

"You're alive! Where's Daisy? Does Peach know you're back?" Luigi asked.

Mario looked at him for a moment. "You remember..."

"Of course I remember. Mario what's going on? I saw you die but that was a year ago" Luigi said.

"It was real wasn't it? Luigi, a year ago I woke up after having an accident. I guess my return was like that because of the way I died in the Mushroom World. You must have died differently so your return was peaceful. You kept telling me it was a dream. You were my brother but you weren't. It was as if you had never been in that world. It's been a year since then" Mario said.

"But if it was real then how am I here? Mario I'm so confused. Did those years never happen?" Luigi asked.

"They did, somehow they did" Mario said. "I died fighting Bowser and you..."

"Poison" Luigi said.

"Now we're both back. Our adventure is over and we've been returned to this world overwriting the memories we had. It was as if a part of our soul was there but we were here all along. Listen Luigi, think of that world everyday. Never forget it or it will start to feel more like a dream with every passing day. Your memories of this world will return and try to make you forget. You'll start to think it wasn't real, but it was. We couldn't have both had the same dream, it must have happened."

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"They're both gone now" Daisy said as she approached Peach.

"Yes... I'm sorry Luigi couldn't be cured" Peach said.

"We found out who did it. Someone impersonated the chef and poisoned him. What are we going to do now?" Daisy asked.

"You're calm aren't you? You were sad yesterday when it happened but now you're calm" Peach said.

"It's not that I don't care it's just that..." Daisy didn't know how to say it. That feeling was hard to explain.

"They're alive and you feel it too" the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom said. "It is as if their death was an illusion, like waking up from a dream."

"Yes" the princess of Sarasaland agreed. "Stay in Sarasaland for a little longer. You're the only one who understands what I feel because you feel it too."

"I will" Peach said.

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The Darklands Bowser's castle. "King Bowser, what will we do now?" Kammy asked.

"Let Daisy go, we no longer need her. Peach alone has proven she can support this world" Bowser said.

"Isn't it risky to have only Peach? Daisy has been here for so long" Kamek said.

"Don't worry, Peach will do" Bowser said.

"How shall it be done?" Kammy asked.

"Quick and painless" Bowser answered.

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When Daisy died she too woke up in the world of the Mario brothers. Convinced that it was not a dream she searched for the man named Luigi Mario and his brother Mario Mario. She traveled and traveled until she found them.

"Then you're like us, you were returned here too" Luigi said hugging her.

"Do you think everyone in that world is like us? People who will come here after they die there? People who live here and there at the same time? I know it wasn't a dream but why does it feel like it was? Why can't my memories coexist?" Daisy asked.

"Because they contradict each other" Mario answered. He should know. Peach and Pauline, it was torture for his heart.

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"Bowser!" Peach screamed angrily storming into his castle. "Why did you take them away? Why did you take them all away?"

"I set them free. They were never here to begin with. Only a portion of their soul was here. I let it go. They are in their world with their memories I've done more for you than I've done ever before for any other princess" Bowser said. Peach let her tears flow in an endless river.

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"I want a friend. Kammy can I have a friend?" A little girl asked.

"You already have many friends" Kammy said.

"I want a friend from my world!" Peach said. She was only five. She was an orphaned girl who was brought into another world. She was different from Daisy, Mario and Luigi. She was there completely in soul and body. The others were just a portion of a soul completed with illusions.

"I'm sorry dear, but I can't" Kammy said.

"Let her have a friend" a small koopa said.

"King Bowser, why have you changed back into such a small form?" Kamek, who was following him as they entered the room, asked.

"I may have been here for centuries but that doesn't mean I can't be a kid if I want to" little Bowser answered. "Listen Peach you can have a friend but when you grow up the friend will have to go back. Your friend won't really be here, just a portion of your friend's soul. You must never tell the truth about this world."

"I promise!" little Peach said.

Princess Daisy was then named the heir to the throne of Sarasaland. She didn't know how she got there and she missed her parents at first but as she grew she accepted that place as her home.

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"Bowser, please bring someone else from my world here" Peach said as she ran into the throne room where Bowser was with his two main magic users and advisors.

"Peach, be careful. Daisy can't know you're here. She can't know the truth" Bowser said.

"Don't worry she won't know. I want to ask you to bring someone else here. Bring me a young man of my world please" she said.

"Absolutely not" Bowser said.

"Please Bowser! I'm the princess you promised to make me happy if I kept your world alive!" Peach said.

"You have ideas of romance I can see it in your eyes. He wouldn't be real, just a portion of his soul" Bowser said.

"That's enough for me. Daisy is a real friend to me and she is a portion of the soul of a girl from my world, a girl who lives in two places at once. Bring him to me please" Peach pleaded again.

"No." He left the throne room with Kamek fallowing close behind.

"Kammy, why won't he do this for me?" Peach asked crying.

"It's because he cares about you. Kamek told him not to get attached, maybe he was right. Even the princess must leave this world eventually. You cannot be forced to stay" Kammy said.

"But Kammy, he's gone. Bowser is dead. He's just a spirit. He's not truly there I can feel it because I am complete. Daisy isn't completely here so she doesn't know but I am!" The world shook and the castle threatened to crumble.

"Don't say that Peach! Don't ever say that! Our world will go and you will die with it! Peach you must believe!" Kammy desperately called. She felt as if she was already fading away.

"I believe. This world is real, it's real. I'm here, I believe." The earthquake stopped and the castle was restored. Everything was calm.

Bowser and Kamek came running back. "Grant her wish Kamek. Grant it or she will destroy us all" he bitterly said.

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Peach stood there crying. She knew deep down that what was given to her had to be taken away eventually. "Tell me more about this world."

"What is there to tell that you don't know? This world existed long ago until stars rained from the skies destroying it. Souls wondered refusing to let go of life itself. I the king created this world with the help of the magikoopas. This world existed for centuries but it could not be supported that way forever. Many lost the will to stay and rested, they passed away. I refuse to let go. To keep this world in existence I needed the help of one from the new world. An orphaned girl was always chosen as the princess. She, who has nothing, has nothing to loose and would welcome a life here as a princess even if it is an illusion created by spirits that refuse to move on. She would live here all her life and then when she died her spirit would rest. I won't keep your soul awake unless you want me to, I can't. All past princess accepted death when their time came but I hope that you would stay. Another must be brought here to do your job after you can no longer do it but it wouldn't matter because you would still be here" Bowser said.

"Do you know why they chose to die, Bowser? It's because it felt real, unlike this illusion" Peach said.

"I did for you what I did for no other. I gave you your friend Daisy and I even gave you Mario and Luigi because I knew you would ask for someone for her as well. I couldn't let it go too far, that you must understand. I had to constantly remind you with the kidnappings. I could have sent them back the first time but I let them save you even if there was nothing to be saved from. I couldn't keep them prisoner any longer" Bowser said.

"Kamek told you not to get attached. Maybe you shouldn't have" Peach said. "I want to go back into my world. It's time you let your kingdom rest, everyone in it, koopas, mushrooms, yoshies and everyone else. Let their soul rest in peace, you have been keeping them awake for far too long."

"I wont" Bowser said.

"Please you need to understand. I know you felt it was unfair for the stars to destroy your world to create mine but it happened so long ago. People are suffering but they try to hide it thinking that if they pretend they're alive they will feel alive. This world of spirits, of ghosts needs to end. I'm the one supporting it now. When I stop, you must not call another princess to take my place" Peach said.

"If you leave, I won't want to" Bowser was getting tired of this himself and loosing Peach was the last thing he could take.

"You're a good king, you gave your kingdom the life nature took away but too much will hurt them. Goodbye Bowser, Kamek and Kammy, rest in peace." The world of illusions began to fade as souls were put to rest until only Peach and Bowser remained.

"Without the illusion there is no oxygen here, you'll suffocate" Bowser said.

"I know" Peach said feeling her lungs search for air that didn't exist. How she survived in such a world in the first place was a mystery to her in many ways yet at the same time not a mystery at all, it was all in her head. Her life slipped away and her soul along with Bowser's and so many others was finally put to rest.

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"Princess? Princess!"

"Ah!"

He jumped back quickly placing his hands over the sides of his head. She never screamed that loud before, not even she was being kidnapped. "You looked like you were having a nightmare. I just came to wake you up because you said, you asked me to..."

Peach took a moment to let the dream fade away. "It's alright Toad, thank you. I remember I asked you to wake me from my nap at this hour. I was having a terrible nightmare, I'm sorry I screamed like that."

"It's alright princes" Toad said. "The Mario brothers should be here soon. You invited them remember?"

"Yes of course" Peach said getting up. The world of the Mario brothers was a mystery to her. She didn't know how both worlds coexisted but they did. They were both real.

Have you ever felt as if you can't tell the difference between reality and illusions, what is real and what is a dream? Have you ever thought something was truth only to later find out it was a lie? Have you ever thought you knew where a story is going until you read the ending?

End of Event 61

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**Event 62: Alliance**

"What?" Daisy squealed in surprise at her best friend, Peach's revelation.

"Shh! Don't tell! It was supposed to be a secret but you know how we've been friends for so many years we tell each other everything" Peach said.

Princess Daisy had been telling princess Peach about the wonders the new alliance was doing for the economy after it was extended to Sarasaland when Peach suddenly getting off topic told her something rather surprising.

"Well I thought that since you know every other secret of mine and I know yours that I should share a new one" Peach said. "I couldn't hold it in any longer. I've been thinking 'I wonder what Daisy will say when I tell her' all week long."

Daisy smiled mischievously. "Tell me everything! Don't skip a single detail."

Peach started to tell her story. It was a story that was hard to believe, but a certain someone had a scar to prove it.

"Peach." She had been very quiet and looked unusually pale. She didn't even scream for help when he captured her. Bowser had heard rumors of a spy from a far away kingdom who hated the Mushroom Kingdom, for a reason unknown to him, sneaking in and attempting to hurt the princess. Of course he had to find out if she was alright. Not only did he find her alive but also kidnapped her. "Are you alright?"

Peach only nodded her head. Her gaze was lost and empty as if she was feeling very dizzy and could hardly stay on her feet. She sat down on a chair and held her head.

"Are you feeling dizzy? I'll get you something to drink and a snack then you can rest. How about a peach? You like those right?" Bowser asked. It didn't look like princess Peach had heard him. "Peach?"

She looked up unable to focus. She covered her face with her hands and spoke. "I'm fine, just tired." She knew it wasn't true and he noticed it was a lie.

"Tell me what's wrong." He pulled up a chair and sat in front of her making it clear he wouldn't leave until he knew what was going on. "Peach I won't hurt you. Let me help you."

Still covering her face Peach started her narration. "The rumors, the spy, it was all true. It all started along time ago. Back then I was only one year old. The Mushroom Kingdom was allied with the Onirad Kingdom. The Onirad Kingdom was about to do into a war with the Pepsal Kingdom, a war that my father disagreed with. Onirad requested our help which would inevitably send the Mushroom Kingdom into years of war. Pepsal had the advantage against Onirad but if united with the Mushroom Kingdom both sides would be equal which would prologue the battles."

She paused remembering the story she was told of her father's journey to Pepsal. "My father went to Pepsal Kingdom in a mission of peace and successfully negotiated a way to stop the war from ever happening. However Onirad refused to accept the conditions even if they were quite favorable to them. I've heard that the dispute started because the princess of Pepsal refused to marry the prince of Onirad or something like that. The prince lied to his father to pressure the princess but she knew Pepsal would win if they went so she still refused. Because the king of Onirad believed his son's lies and false accusations, he ordered the war to be started and broke the alliance with the Mushroom Kingdom accusing my father of being a traitor."

Peach was clearly upset that her father was falsely accused only because he was trying to protect his people. "Although my father had not abandoned his allied kingdom he didn't want to put the Mushroom Kingdom in a war that could have been stopped. He tried to help Onirad and it was them who broke the alliance. Rumors were spread and since then most kingdoms did not wish to ally with the Mushroom Kingdom except Sarasaland that was a long time loyal ally. Eventually the truth came out and the Mushroom Kingdom formed strong bond of friendship with other Kingdoms such as Nimbus Land. Onirad lost to Pepsal but since then they have recovered and become quite strong."

It bothered him that she continued to cover her face. It was as if she was hiding something when she spoke but he didn't know what. A very important question still remained unanswered. "What about the recent attack. What really happened?"

"I was given a rare tea. Whatever was in it changed me. I thought the ambassador came in search of peace so I couldn't refuse. My father was with the king of Sarasaland at the time so I went to the meeting with the ambassador. The ambassador was arrested for what he did and we are preparing to defend the Mushroom Kingdom if needed. I'm worried. The Onirad armies are strong and their current king, the prince of the past, knows he has a chance to win this time. As things stand now I don't think we can end this without a big war and that's not something I want for my Kingdom or our allies and friends" Peach said.

Although the situation Peach explained would certainly present a problem for the Mushroom Kingdom Bowser's mind was occupied entirely by her with no room for kingdoms or anything else. "What did that tea do to you?" She didn't answer. "Peach?" She fell forward from her chair and Bowser caught her right on time.

When she woke up Peach was in the guest room bed. Kamek was writing something on a paper. After he completed his list he left the room. "I think I have everything right here in the castle. I'll get to work. It'll be ready by tomorrow like I said. Meanwhile she had to... well, she has to be fed." Peach found it a little strange that Kamek said she had to be fed rather than she had to eat. Then it all fell into place. He knew and Bowser probably knew too. It wasn't food she needed it was something else.

"Here's some water" Bowser said holding a glass of water for Peach. She placed her hand around it but felt it slip away under her weakened grip. Bowser held it for her so she could drink it. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you try to hide it?"

"It wouldn't have helped to tell you. I would just worry you and I have enough people worrying about me already because I'm here especially like this." She paused trying to ignore the fact that he was staring at her mouth. She wondered how different that little detail made her look. There had been no other changes in her, just that. "I have to go back. Father, the Mario brothers, Toad, everyone, they'll think I died if they don't her from me soon. They'll think the potion or whatever this is killed me."

"Kamek is really old you know... He was already old when I was a baby. He knows a lot of spells and potions" Bowser said.

Peach took a moment to analyze his words. Could it mean that her problem could be solved? "You mean he can make me normal again?"

"Yes, he's working on it right now. He said the ingredients needed to make the counter potion are not all that rare and that he'll have it ready by tomorrow. Something about it being a slow preparation process so it will take a day" Bowser said.

Peach was relieved but not for long as she thought of Kamek's words. "He said I had to be fed. What did he mean?"

"Blood" Bowser answered. Clearly by Peach's look she didn't like the idea. "You were turned into a vampire by that potion, you need it. You won't last until tomorrow if you try to go without it."

"I don't like the idea of drinking blood" Peach said.

He honestly couldn't imagine her doing so. If he found out who exactly the so called ambassador of peace was he would be in big trouble. He would be swimming in lava before he had the chance to protest, no questions asked. Peach probably knew what his reaction would be and he knew she wouldn't reveal that information so he didn't bother asking. "There is no choice or by tomorrow..." He didn't finish.

She knew what he meant. He was right, there was no other choice. "Just once and tomorrow I'll be normal again. Just once..."

"Yes." He hated to see her like this, in pain.

"Alright I'll do it" Peach said.

An uncomfortable silence fallowed as if one was waiting for the other to say or do something. "Do you want me to put the blood in a glass for you?" Bowser asked.

"How would you do it anyway?" Peach asked.

"I guess I could cut myself and put the blood in a glass for you to drink. If you don't mind that it's my blood" Bowser said. "You can pretend it's an exotic kind of red punch."

After an uncomfortable pause Peach spoke. "Wouldn't that hurt?"

"A little" Bowser answered. He really wasn't thinking about that now. He was only thinking about saving her and making those who hurt her pay. He would find out who the ambassador was or he would imply destroy all of Onirad and everyone who had been arrested in the Mushroom Kingdom. Then again Peach would not approve of that. "I guess it would be less painful to have a bite." More awkward silence fallowed. "I'll be back in a few minutes" Bowser finally said heading for the door.

"Wait" Peach called. She got up from the bed and tried to walk. Her balance was off and it was difficult to stay on her feet in her weakened state of a vampire who didn't drink blood. He held on to her preventing her from falling. "I don't want it to be more painful than it has to be."

He looked at her. She smiled weakly, showing her long sharp fangs. "Peach?"

She waited a moment as if she was rethinking her decision and finally spoke. "I'll try to make it so it doesn't hurt too much, ok?"

He nodded and removed his choker. It wouldn't believe it until he felt a bite. It was just so unreal...

Peach decided not to think too much about it anymore and just do it. She had to do it. It was the only way to survive. True that she didn't necessarily have to obtain the blood by biting but this way she would take just enough instead of risking Bowser loosing too much blood trying to make sure he had enough to give her.

At first she only touched his neck with her lips. She was a bit frightened by her own actions but it's not like she was biting without permission. 'He better not be enjoying this' she thought with a hint of humor. Then again such a thought made her feel less guilty about stealing his blood for her own survival and it wasn't like she was planning to take too much anyway.

She opened her mouth just a little. Enough to let her fangs lightly touch his neck. Then she bit gently, a little too gently as she didn't draw any blood but out of the corner of her eye she could see Bowser's face turning a bright shade of red. That's when she realized that her own cheeks were also on fire. No turning back now. If she had gotten past enough awkwardness to go that far then she wasn't going to back down.

She told herself to be brave and bit him hard. She felt Bowser become tense for a moment. The sudden shot of pain had been stronger than he thought. He relaxed when Peach lessened the pressure. Her fangs were very sharp and easily pierced his skin without any difficulty. She felt the blood start to flow into her mouth and closed her eyes. She tried hard to imagine it was punch but it didn't taste like punch.

She drank the blood like a true vampire and stated feeling her health retuning to her. She no longer had trouble standing or focusing. She was wide awake now. Maybe she was more awake than she would like to be at a moment like that but pretending it wasn't happening wouldn't change the fact that it was. Besides it rally wasn't so bad. It wasn't easy but not as hard as she thought it would be.

At some point she wasn't sure when, he hugged her. She was already hugging him to make herself a little more comfortable until she was done so she didn't mind. In fact she was glad he wasn't annoyed that she bit him harder than needed. She didn't know how sharp her newly acquired fangs could be.

They stayed like that for a little while until Peach thought she had enough blood. She removed her fangs from his neck carefully not to make an unnecessary cut. Those things were so sharp she was surprised she didn't cut her own lips with them. She licked a little left over blood then moved away. "Thank you... I'm sorry I bit you so hard."

"It's alright and you're very welcome" Bowser said slowly. He hoped his face wasn't as red as he thought it was but her face was red too so maybe it wouldn't matter. It took a moment for the event to sink in. The bite felt pretty deep. Probably deeper than it had to be but it would heal. He wouldn't really mind if it left a mark, it would be from Peach so it would be a good thing if it was there.

"Don't tell anyone, ok?" Peach requested.

"It will be our secret" Bowser said. 'Peach and I have a secret now!' He cheerfully thought he was certainly in a good mood all of a sudden. "If you get thirsty again let me know."

"Alright but next time I'll drink something other than exotic red punch" Tomorrow she would be back to normal and she was sure she drank enough blood to keep her alive and healthy until the next day. "Tomorrow after the counter potion is ready I need to go home" Bowser didn't look like he wanted to let her go. She wasn't surprised he never wanted to let her go.

"My father is under a lot of pressure because of the possibility of a war breaking out, a war that might not end any time soon. The kingdom is demanding that his attention be focused on that matter. I don't want to add to his worries. We need to find allies before it's too late to stop the war from starting. If our alliance is strong enough maybe Onirad will not attack in fear of loosing as they did against Pepsal. I'm sure they won't make the same mistake twice. The Mushroom Kingdom must start preparing at once and that won't happen until I'm back at home. They'll be busy worrying about me instead of the kingdom's safety. I can't let that happen. This is serious, please understand."

"I'll be your ally" Bowser said.

"What?" The Koopa Kingdom was certainly powerful. Their military forces were matched by no other kingdom. Surely if they allied with the Mushroom Kingdom no one would dare to even think declaring a war.

"The Koopa Kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom as allies. Why not? Would you like that Peach?" Bowser asked. He knew he had the upper hand in the situation.

Peach sighted. "What's the catch?"

Bowser was about to make his request but he stopped. Peach went from looking hopeful to looking absolutely miserable in seconds. "There is no catch" he finally answered. He could ask for anything, even her hand in marriage. He was tempted to ask. Surely the princess would accept if it was the only way to save her kingdom from what could be a devastating war but he just couldn't ask. He didn't want to push her into a corner. It was enough that he kidnapped her all the time but this was crossing the line. Besides she chose well when given options, so he concluded after her choice not long ago. She could have drank what she needed from a glass but she chose not to. She just needed time.

"Really? Our kingdoms will be allies and you're not going to ask for anything in exchange?" Peach couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true.

"Well I suppose that like all allied kingdoms we'll do the standard trading and getting along thing. We'll need to have meetings every now and then to discuss important kingdom things. I want you to be the one to represent the Mushroom Kingdom in every one but that's pretty standard for allied kingdoms so does it really count as a catch?" Bowser asked.

"It sounds perfectly reasonable. I'll inform my father and get everything ready to make the alliance official. Are you really sure?" Peach asked one last time. She had to make sure this was for certain before giving her father the news.

"Yes, I give you my word" Bowser said.  
Suddenly Peach hugged him. "Thank you for helping my kingdom and saving my life." She concluded that being close this close to him wasn't bad at all. It felt somehow comfortable after the initial awkwardness wore off.

Peach was cured the next day and she went back to normal. The alliance of the Koopa Kingdom with the Mushroom Kingdom was signed much to everyone's surprise. The war was prevented and people were taking this new alliance a lot better than the rulers of both kingdoms had predicted. They welcomed a new era of peace. Sure they found it a little unnecessary that the princess had to attend such a long meeting every single week but it also made them feel calm. She would leave Friday afternoon and return Monday in the morning. Peach being able to go in and out of the Koopa castle so easily with no kidnapping incidents made the people of her kingdom rest assured that the alliance was successful and that the new era of peace would last.

End of Event 62

Onirad (onion, radish) and Pepsal (pepper, salt) are as far as I know made up kingdoms. Disclaimer, I do not own the Mario games.


	59. Event 63

Vacation

Event 63: Journey

xoxox xox xoxox

'I give them a year at most...'

In all truth, Bowser wasn't sure he wanted his castle to be mutated in such a way. But alas, Peach's delicate touch reached everything. It could bee seen in the pink curtains that contrasted against the gray stone statues, in the pink roses that miraculously co-existed with the piranha plants, and in every pink item in the castle that didn't belong to Wendy.

'I think it can work out...'

Well, at least the koopalings were happy with their new indoor swimming pool, which occupied the space previously filled with boiling lava. Happy koopalings meant a happy mama Peach and they would also be kept busy by the novelty of the pool, which meant they would cause less mischief. Sure they already had several summing pools, but this one was new and therefore inexplicably more fun than the others.

'No way, they're too different!'

Furthermore, if the koopalings were busy playing in their new pool, Peach would have more time to spend with Bowser, and that meant a happy Koopa King. It was a trade, Peach would have her water and Bowser would have his statues of her added alongside the statues of himself; and the queen would not say that he was overdoing it, even if he was... but Bowser's adoration for Peach knew no limits.

'You meddle too much.'

Thus another change was made to the castle to accommodate the queen. The months preceding the wedding felt like an eternity when ever Bowser thought about it; but the day came and went; and now they were, once again, husband and wife.

'You're not concerned enough! I bet this will end badly!'

Both the Koopa Kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom were buzzing with the news ever since the official engagement message was made, and the talk continued weeks after the wedding took place. Some were happy, few were sad, and others were simply shocked; but overall they trusted Peach's choice. The positive light of the situation spread with talk of commerce, economy and alliances, until people began to wonder why such a union was not considered sooner.

'I'll take that bet, for the famous Altuvir Sword.'

Theories flew all around about Peach's past kidnappings, some saying they were romantic escapades and that Mario was hired to cover up for Peach. Those with obsolete views where nothing short of shocked, perhaps horrified; while those with open minds were little more than amused. However, even the ones with outdated thoughts would change their minds when presented with the positive points of the union.

'Fine, and when I win, I'll claim the territories reaching from the border to the volcano.'

xoxox xox xoxox

Bowser wondered if this could be in any way comparable to a honey moon, and the answer was no. Sure Peach was by his side, but so were his children. Furthermore, the purpose of this trip was business. Peach was to become acquainted with the lands that composed the Koopa Kingdom in her own special way.

The new queen didn't want a big celebration where ever she went. Though admittedly, she very much enjoyed some of the less formal parties, she wanted to see the towns and cities as they normally were when the queen wasn't visiting. She consulted Kamek about it and he solved the problem with a pair of matching shell shaped pendants that granted the ability to shape shift, and thus explore the land in secret.

It was also thanks to the magikoopa that Peach, Bowser and the koopalings could easily travel anywhere in the world by way of teleportation, and the journey began...

xoxox xox xoxox

"Stop! Don't go too far!" Kammy had been assigned the task of babysitting the koopalings. This was not unusual for her, but the location was. The Forest of Illusion was known for being a maze of mirages, a place where even experienced travelers could get lost and they had teleported right at the entrance.

Running between the trees, bushes and various flora, most of koopalings dispersed, with Kammy following after Junior, since he was the youngest and most likely to get lost first. Ludwig sat under the shade of a tree with a quill and parchment, inspired to write some melodies. Wendy sat under a different tree to read a magazine she brought along, and the rest had run off.

"I'm going to help Kammy," Kamek announced, receiving an approving nod from Bowser who had his attention fixed on Peach and barely heard the magikoopa.

After Kamek had left, the king and queen walked deeper into the forest, a relatively old map carefully held by Peach. "According to this map, there should be a village near by. There's a Lakitu town in the center of the forest, but the map also marks a smaller village of snifits in the north-west."

"It doesn't look like it's too far," Bowser held Peach's hand after she rolled up the map as they walked along. Because Kamek and Kammy had not personally been to the village, they could not teleport directly there.

"We should change soon," Peach ran her fingers over the smooth surface of her pendant.

"I don't think there are any snifits around here," the information must have been was outdated.

The crack of a small broken branch on the ground was heard near by and Peach and Bowser took cover behind a very large tree. They peeked out and saw a man walk by, he had not seen them. From their position behind the tree they saw that his hair was a very pale blue and his ears were long.

"Do you think the villagers are like him?" Peach wondered.

"It's possible, but I've never seen humans with long ears around here." The hair color was unusual for a hylian plus the way he moved, as if he knew exactly where he was going, made them think he wasn't a traveler.

"Let's try this, Kamek said we could shape shift into any type of being we've seen and remember." Peach focused on the man she had recently seen. The pendant glowed brightly in a prismatic light and when the curtain of light was gone Peach's body and dress had changed, with only the pendant left the same. Of course she could change back to normal at any time, and would automatically change back if she didn't keep the magic pendant close.

Bowser observed the new Peach. Her face was practically the same, she still had her delicate features and gentle eyes, but those eyes were hot pink. Her previously blond hair was a pale cotton candy pink and her ears were long. She was wearing a pink skirt with matching boots, a white blouse and a short pink cape over it.

"Beautiful, but I like the real Peach best." Peach giggled and gave Bowser a kiss. "That's my Peach..." he gently pulled her close again for a second kiss, until the crack of another branch made them look around searching for the source of the sound.

xoxox xox xoxox

A fox ran by, minding its own business and Peach laughed at the irony. Even though they were married now, she had jumped in surprise like the times Bowser would steal a kiss in the Mushroom Castle halls and Peach heard footsteps thinking it might be Toadsworth. The elderly mushroom had gone from upset the first few times they were caught, to embarrassed about his bad timing the last few.

"Ready?" Peach asked.

"I'm sure you'll miss my handsome face, but here goes," Bowser's pendant glowed until he too had shaped shift. He was wearing mostly black save for the long red cape. His hair had not changed too much; it was still flaming red, but a little longer. His eyes were basically the same, but the changes to his body made him unrecognizable. He looked human-like, save for the long ears and unusual eye color, and his height had been changed to that of a tall, though still normal, human man. "Everything looks bigger; let's just get the exploring done, this feels weird."

"I know but it's for the sake of seeing everyone in their normal environment, not running around getting ready for an unexpected visit from the king and queen. Besides, we can change back when no one is watching and..." she blushed, "we haven't had a honey moon yet, we could have a mini honey moon here."

In a split second, Bowser was grinning from ear to ear. "I love you Peach! I mean, Candy." It was her secret name.

"I love you too, Blaze," Peach returned the smile and when Bowser placed his arm around her waist as they walked along, and Peach rested her head on his shoulder, she found herself missing her husband's true form and the way she fit so comfortably into his embrace.

He was still Bowser and she was still Peach; the new forms were only temporary illusions, but he was right, it did feel a little strange. However it was all for the sake of getting to know their kingdom without the formalities that came with their real identities.

When they arrived at the village they found many others like the man they had seen before. They looked similar to hylians but there was definitely something different about them other than the unusual hair colors.

"Welcome travelers!" A lavender haired young girl greeted Peach and Bowser cheerfully, seemingly completely oblivious to their true identities. "I know exactly why you're here..."

The girl sounded so certain that for a moment Peach thought the girl had seen through the illusion. Bowser wasn't too worried; he really didn't think it was possible to recognize him in such a 'small' form.

"You're tourists!" The girl giggled, a faint pink blush spreading on her cheeks. She covered her face with her slender hands and closed her eyes for a moment. She blinked then linked her hands behind her back. "You should visit the super secret garden, that's what all couples do!"

Without giving them time to reply, the strange lavender haired girl ran off. "That was... unusual." Peach commented.

"And weird," Bowser added, "very weird..."

The town was filled with unusual people; they were all a little shy and blushed easily when Peach and Bowser looked at their faces. They all had light hair, lavender, sky blue, cotton candy pink, platinum blond, white, pale mint green and silvery gray. Bowser's flaming red hair was by far the darkest color in the entire village.

It seemed that for some unknown reason, all the villages 'knew' that Bowser and Peach had arrived with the purpose of visiting their 'super secret garden', and they all gave the visitors directions towards it.

In the center of the village there was a hallow tree stump. The same pale blue haired man they had seen in the forest was leaning against the wall of a near by fruit store looking at the tree stump. A sign that read 'super secret garden' was placed in front of the tree stump.

Peach leaned in and saw nothing but an endless darkness. "Are we supposed to jump in to see the super secret garden?"

"Looks pretty deep..." Bowser leaned forward enough so that half his body was in the tree stump and breathed a little fire. His appearance was different but he still had that special ability.

Peach looked around to make sure no one had seen Bowser's fire. "Did you see anything?"

"Nothing," to Bowser it looked like anyone who jumped in there would be falling forever.

"Excuse me tourists," a man with silvery hair spoke, "the entrance to the super secret garden is for jumping not looking. You won't see anything if you don't get close."

"I can't even see the bottom," Bowser didn't quite trust the unusual villagers who blushed too often and had a tendency to cover their faces.

"Allow me," the white haired man jumped into the super secret garden and remained down there for a few minutes before popping out again as if propelled by a trampoline. "See? It's safe." He then ran away, blushing and covering his face.

"All the people in this town are weird," Bowser observed.

"At least they're not putting up a special act for us... I think," Peach was starting to wonder if all the blushing, running away and covering their faces was somehow a part of their culture, or if so few outsiders visited this village that they were all extremely shy. "We might as well check it out; they've made it clear that this super secret garden is the highlight of the village."

"Alright, I'm ready," Bowser climbed to the edge of the tree stomp at least it would be easy for him to fit in his new form. "I'll go first and catch you when you jump in."

"Okay, be careful," it looked harmless enough though. Bowser jumped in and Peach gave him a few seconds to land then jumped in herself. The fall was surprisingly slow, as if she was floating down instead of falling, even if she didn't have her gown to make her float.

Though the entrance was dark, the underground cave was filled with light. Peach floated softly into Bowser's arms and admired the beauty of the garden. Innumerable flowers covered the ground their petals shining like Christmas lights. "It's beautiful!"

"You're a lot more beautiful," Bowser always took every opportunity to compliment Peach.

Hand in hand, they walked deeper into the super secret garden.

xoxox xox xoxox

The flowers were unlike anything Peach had ever seen. Bowser was, as usual, more interested in his queen than the surroundings, but Peach was truly amazed by the garden of light. Then suddenly it all turned dark. "Candy?"

"I'm here," it was pitch black and she couldn't see a thing. "Where are you?"

"I'm right next to you, I think..." Bowser felt a cold chill. "Don't let go of my hand." He breathed fire but it had no effect, the darkness consumed it all.

"Don't let go?" Peach wasn't even holding Bowser's hand, he slipped away when it became dark and she couldn't find him. "I'm not holding your hand right now..."

"Then who?" He let who ever it was go.

A feminine giggle was heard and the light of the flowers returned. Two Peaches stood side by side wearing the exact same disguise down to the last detail. They looked at each other, the fake mimicking the real one's movements with such perfection that it was impossible to tell which one was leading the mirror dance.

"Candy and Candy?" Bowser tilted his head to the side watching as Peach and her twin made faces at each other as if looking into a mirror.

"Who are you?" The two Peaches asked in unison with perfectly matching voices, and they replied in the same way. "Candy! No, Peach! Stop copying me!"

The twins turned their heads towards Bowser's laughter. "What? You can't say it's not funny!"

The Peaches pouted, "It's not!" They glared at each other with equally annoyed expressions. "You know I'm the real one!" They echoed unanimously.

"My Peachy Candy is... you," Bowser took the real Peach's hand.

"I'm happy you know it's me," the real Peach never doubted for a moment that Bowser would be able to tell who she was.

"No! I'm Peach!" The fake one yelled.

"I know who the real Peach is!" Bowser spoke proudly.

"Besides," the real Peach added, "you don't have a shadow."

"She doesn't?" Bowser blinked, the real Peach and Bowser had shadows created by the light of the flowers but the fake Peach didn't.

"I can't believe you're realizing that just now, I thought it was your first clue," Peach felt even happier that Bowser recognized her without using the shadow as a clue.

"Just kidding, I knew about the shadow," it was obvious he didn't.

"Hey don't ignore me! So you were able to see who the real Peach was, but I wonder how it would have gone if there were two Bowsers instead?" The lights went out again and when they came back on Peach and Bowser were apart and the fake Peach was gone.

Now there was a fake Bowser standing next to the real one. "Not the same trick again! Didn't you learn from trying to copy Peach that you can't copy perfection?" Both Bowsers spoke at the same time.

They were both in disguise and looked exactly alike, plus this time they both had shadows, but Peach easily identified the real Bowser. "Game over," she hugged her husband. Peach couldn't think of any specific hint that this was the real Bowser, she simply knew, she felt it.

The fake Bowser turned into a ghostly version of his koopa form and his shadow rose from the ground to become a ghostly Peach, also based in her original form. "We've been waiting for so long, for a chance like this, someone promised us so much!" The two ghosts spoke in unison. They laughed, red blush contrasting with their white faces which they covered much like boos often did.

"This entire village..." Peach looked at Bowser.

"Is full of boos?" He finished. "But you already know who I am! I am King Bowser Koopa and the Forest of Illusion belongs to the Koopa Kingdom!"

The two ghosts laughed, "someone is higher up, higher and higher!" The two ghosts giggled and spun around dancing in mid air.

"Higher?! Who is that someone you keep talking about?! I'm the highest authority around here and anywhere!" Bowser stomped around angrily while the ghosts danced and ignored him.

"It's as if they're in a trance," Peach noted, "but who could hypnotize a boo?"

The cave around Bowser and Peach began to fade until they realized that they were in an old basement. The wooden structure was about to fall apart, it was an old abandoned house haunted by boos. As the illusion faded, the villages who were dancing in the air lost in confusion started to change as well, regaining their characteristic round shape. The boos continued to spin around wildly all over the old haunted house. The trance they were in was fading and this was a side effect.

The old wooden floor creaked and Peach saw the same pale blue haired man, his royal blue eyes fixed on her and Bowser. "Over there..." She ran towards him and he ran away. "Wait! Who are you? Did you do this?"

"What? What happened? What did you see?" Bowser rushed after her.

"That same man we saw in the forest and next to the garden entrance is here," the stranger ran up some stairs and Peach followed. "He didn't change, he's not a boo!"

The man ran out of the ghost house and threw the door closed. Peach tried to open the door and pulled off the door knob by accident. She pushed the door but it wouldn't open.

"Stand back I'll get the door open," as soon as Peach stepped back Bowser ran into the doors, still quite strong despite his current human-like form. The doors were forced open but the man they were chasing was no where to be found.

"Bowser!" Peach called after him when she saw Bowser about to continue the chase. "We don't know which way he went, it's pointless to try to chase someone in a place like this after losing sight of him. "I don't know what he wanted but he knew we were coming. If he wants to cause trouble he won't give up so easily, we'll catch him next time."

Peach knew that there were a few people who were unhappy with her marriage to Bowser, but other than a few anonymous letters and small public complaints, no one had actually tried to push them apart. The fake Peach and Bowser were like a test.

xoxox xox xoxox

After the incident with the boos, Bowser and Peach decided to continue their journey. As Peach had said, if the mysterious blue haired man wanted to cause trouble he would eventually show himself again. They returned to their normal forms and searched for the magikoopa and the koopalings.

At the entrance of the Forest of Illusion, Bowser and Peach found Kamek waiting for them. "How was the visit? Did you find the snifit village?"

"No, but we did find a haunted house where the map said the snifit village should be." Peach didn't want to allow the recent event ruin her good mood.

"Yeah, it was full of hypnotized boos, and you have to find out more. The main suspect is a guy who looks like a hylian with light blue hair," Bowser replied.

"Blue hair is quite unusual for a hylian, perhaps he is of another land..." Kamek looked thoughtful. "What were the boos hypnotized to do?"

"That's why I said he only looks like a hylian, pay attention Kamek. The boos were hypnotized to annoy Peach and me," Bowser pouted. "And that's very bad so I want you to do something about it. Catch that guy before he gets in the way again."

"We don't have proof that he's behind all of this yet, but he is suspicious," Peach added.

"Someone who can hypnotize ghosts... How interesting," Kamek mused. "I will make sure to investigate."

Peach unrolled her old map to show it to Kamek and was surprised to find that the spot labeled as the location of a snifit village was clearly identified as a haunted house populated by boos. "The map..."

"We need a better map, this one is too old and..." Bowser looked at the spot on the map that Peach was pointing to. "That wasn't there before. That guy is really starting to annoy me, playing tricks and changing the map." Most of all, Bowser was annoyed because he had fallen for the tricks and the plans of having a mini honey moon with Peach while they were in the snifit village were cancelled.

Peach handed the map to Kamek who examined it closely, "that's odd, I remember this map being different but I can't sense any traces of magic being recently used in it." With his experience and knowledge of magic, even if it was a small trick, Kamek should sense it. He didn't want to say anything about it, but it was unnerving that he didn't. "The koopalings found the lakitu town in this forest before Kammy could stop them." Which meant that Bowser and Peach's presence was no longer a secret. "I can teleport you there, the lakitu want to see you."

Bowser grumbled about how it was Kammy's fault the koopalings blew their cover and Peach accepted the offer, "teleporting to the lakitu town sounds like a good idea. If they're already expecting us then we shouldn't keep them waiting. We'll just have to visit again another time to see them having a normal day."

xoxox xox xoxox

When Kamek teleported Peach and Bowser to the gates of the lakitu town, they were received with cheers, music and confetti. The town's people had gathered to witness their arrival and lined up to present their gifts. This process took several hours, until finally Peach was 'kidnapped' by Wendy who wanted to show her a ribbon shop she saw, while Bowser was left to deal with the crowds.

xoxox xox xoxox

Peach had never seen this many ribbons in one place, but Wendy looked like she was right at home in the store. The young koopa lady picked up a silky ribbon inspecting it closely with a soft "hmm..." sound. She ran her manicured pink claws over the soft texture until she finally passed her approving judgment. "I'll take this one too." She added it to the assortment of ribbons she carried, most of them in shades of pink. Then she turned to Peach, "did you find something you like?"

"I think I'll buy this one," the ribbon Peach held was pink, which wasn't a surprise. But unlike Wendy's patterned ribbons, the one Peach had chosen was a solid color, a soft pink.

"But it doesn't have any decorations!" It was too plain in Wendy's opinion.

"It's soft," Peach rubbed the ribbon gently with her gloveless hands. Wendy had insisted on giving her a manicure and Peach's nails were now too long to fit comfortably in her gloves, but the Koopa Princess insisted that Peach should show off her nails anyway.

"I guess so but these are shiny."

Not surprisingly, the shop owner insisted on giving them the ribbons as gifts.

xoxox xox xoxox

There was a party that lasted for nearly the rest of the day with music, dancing and food; all of it looked as if it was carefully planned even if it had been improvised. Ludwig was even invited to conduct the orchestra.

xoxox xox xoxox

The lakitu town was full of tree houses, one of which was particularly tall. At the end of the day, after the fire works, which surprisingly ended before midnight; the royal family was shown to their rooms. Bowser and Peach were to stay in that tall tree house. A pair of lakitu gave them rides on clouds.

The lakitu were identical twins, also sharing the same mischievous expressions. "Your keys," one of them said holding out the keys which Bowser took.

His brother had a big grin on his face, though not Peach or Bowser understood what was so amusing. "This house is really high up," he stated the obvious. "What I mean is it's really, really, high up above the town, so the sounds from the town won't reach up here. It's really high up!"

"Yes, you already said that," Bowser was getting impatient and he didn't understand what was so funny about a tree house that was 'really high up'.

"No one will bother you up here, because it's so high up, and so quiet, because the sounds from town don't reach all the way up here..." the lakitu made a dramatic pause, sharing a knowing look of mischief with his twin. "The sounds from this tree house won't reach the town either so don't worry about that... you can do stuff, play really loud music or... stuff."

Bowser was starting to doubt the lakitu twins were sane. "Right, don't you two have somewhere else to go?"

The twins grinned and nodded.

"Well, we don't want to keep you, thank you for bringing us up here," Peach smiled politely.

The twins continued to grin and nod, "we're leaving now..."

"Yeah we're leaving. Use the phone in the room if you need anything, no one will come up here unless you call. You have to use the phone because there's no way anyone will hear you in the town if you call out the window or something, no matter how loud you yell. It's impossible, no one will hear. Um... bye!"

"Yeah, bye!" The lakitu twins finally left.

Normally Bowser would have yelled at them to go away, but he was trying to be nicer around Peach so she wouldn't get upset. He closed the door and locked it, "I hope they keep they're words and don't come back."

"Wasn't that odd, how they kept saying that this place is so high up, and no one will hear us?" Peach thought it sounded suspicious, or perhaps more familiar than suspicious, but she couldn't quite remember where she heard that before.

"Do you think there was something wrong with them? This better not be another trap!" Everything appeared to be normal at first but now it looked like the lakitu really wanted to get Bowser and Peach alone at the tree house.

Peach's face suddenly turned red. "I just remembered something. I don't think it's a trap..."

"How do you know? What did you remember? If it's not a trap, can we have a mini honey moon now?" Bowser hugged her and Peach returned the warm embrace.

"This is one of the places Daisy and Luigi visited after they got married," and remembering Daisy's detailed stories about the mischievous lakitu twins and what happened after they left, made Peach blush brighter.

xoxox xox xoxox

After the small party at the lakitu town in the Forest of Illusion, the koopalings were left thirsting for another holiday, and though her tour of the Koopa Kingdom was no where near done, Peach promised to take them on a family holiday soon. After that, she planned continue getting to know the lands, her next stop being the Koopa Kingdom territories located in Sky Land near the Nimbus Land border. But first, a family get-away with Bowser and the Koopalings in the Chocolate Island Chocolate Festival. They would spend a day in the Neon Castle then go to Chocolate Island the next morning.

Nothing out of the ordinary had happened during their stay in Neon Castle. It was already night time and the koopalings were excited about going to the Chocolate Festival the next day.

"Mama Peach is it going to be morning soon? I want to go to Chocolate Island!" Junior was the most exited about the trip. He loved chocolate and an entire island full of chocolate was a dream come true.

"It will be morning faster if you go to sleep," Peach ruffled his hair and took him to his bed.

"But I'm not sleepy!" Junior complained. "Read me a story Mama Peach!"

Bowser watched the entire scene. He thought it was cute when Peach mothered the koopalings but he didn't actually say it.

"Okay, what kind of story would you like?" Peach looked through the children's book on the shelves.

"You pick!" Junior got comfortable and waited for the story.

Out of all the books, one of them caught Peach's attention more than the others. The girl in the cover looked a lot like her. She quickly read over the back cover 'Complications, a story of true love, adapted into a children's fairy tale based on the famous novel of the same title.'

Peach was curious, she picked up the book and sat on the edge of Junior's bed with Bowser sitting beside her. "That's a good choice," the Koopa King grinned.

"I thought you might like this one," the picture didn't only look like Peach, it was of Peach. "Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess who was in love with a handsome king. Their kingdoms were filled with happiness and peace reigned throughout the land; until one day an evil witch came. The witch was lonely and loveless, and because she knew no happiness, she wanted everyone to forget what happiness felt like."

"The evil witch casted a spell on the princess that sent her into a deep sleep, keeping her trapped in a dream world; and the entire world became sad because they missed her so much. The world's sadness was so terrible that it turned the witch to stone, but that was not enough to wake the princess from her slumber."

"In her dreams, the princess was visited by the spirit of the Sun, 'Oh my dearest princess, the world is so sad without you!' cried the Sun, 'I cannot shine anymore so please wake up and make me shine with your smile.' But no matter how hard the princess tried, she could not awaken from her dream."

"The princess became as sad as the people of her land, 'I miss my beloved king and my friends so much; I wish I could see them again.' Just when princess thought that all hope was lost, a fairy with rainbow wings appeared. 'Do not cry princess, for there is still hope. If you call upon the power of the eight magical rainbow jewels that are in your beloved's castle, their light will guide you to the gates of awakening. Call them with your heart!' Leaving the princess with new hopes, the fairy disappeared."

"The princess called for the power of the eight magical rainbow jewels, reaching out to them with her heart. The jewels responded and transported the princess to the gates of awakening. 'The gates of awakening, I'm here!' The princess rejoiced, 'oh thank you magical rainbow jewels, I shall forever protect you when I return home.' The princess noticed that the gates of awakening required a key which she did not have. 'I've come so far, and I'm so close to returning home, where could the key be?' She did not know where the key was, but she felt that it wasn't too far."

"Then the princess heard a voice, it was the voice of her beloved king and she felt his sweet kiss. Like magic the key appeared, and that key was made of love. The gates of awakening were opened and the princess returned home. She was reunited with her beloved and the kingdoms rejoiced, but the adventure wasn't over yet. Amidst the great celebrations, an evil wizard, brother of the evil witch, came to take revenge on his sister's behalf."

"The wizard attacked the princess and her friends while they were celebrating her safe return and made the princess mysteriously disappear. The brave and handsome king fought and defeated the evil wizard, but the princess did not reappear. The king consulted the good witches and wizards of the land but they were unable to locate the princess, so the brave king set out to find her on his own."

"The amazing king faced scorching deserts, blistering winds, freezing snow storms and terrible beasts during his journey until one day, he found his beloved princess who had been traveling the world trying to return home with her new friend, a lady knight. They were once again reunited and returned safely home. Their kingdoms as well as the neighboring kingdoms happily welcomed them with parties, music, dancing and banquets. Even the sun shone brighter than ever for them."

"One day soon after they returned home, the princess, the king, the lady knight, another princess from a neighboring kingdom, the keepers of the magical rainbow jewels and the good witches and wizards were celebrating their happiness, when the king asked his beloved princess to marry him and she joyfully accepted. Soon they got married and lived happily ever after."

By the time Peach finished reading, Junior was fast asleep. The children's book version of 'Complications' was only very loosely based on the novel, while the novel itself narrated the story of Bowser and Peach with so much accuracy that Peach wondered if the author had somehow been watching her all along.

Peach and Bowser quietly left Junior's room. The entire time while she read, Peach had been cuddling with Bowser. "It's going to be a lot of fun tomorrow," she loved spending time with the whole family. No doubt about it, Chocolate Island would be crowded, and when word got around that the royal Koopa family was there, it would become more crowded; but Peach knew they would still have fun.

"Every day is lots of fun when I'm around," Bowser loved Peach and the way she smiled. To think that he was giving her happiness was truly amazing.

When they entered their bedroom they found a mushroom woman waiting inside. "I'm so glad you're here, we can get on with the interview now! Tell us, how did things go in the special tree house for newly weds in the Forest of Illusion?"

"How did you get in here?" Bowser countered the question with his own. Mint T., a famous mushroom reporter was by far the nosiest living being Bowser had ever met.

"Details, details... now let's move on the important details!" Mint T. held out her recorder, "our lovely audience is dying to know all about what's been happening behind the scenes, tell us all about the most personal and intimate details of-"

"Found her!" A paratroopa stood at the doorway behind Bowser and Peach pointing at Mint T.

Three koopa troopas charged in, "we'll take care of this your majesties!" They spoke in perfect unison, bowed, picked up Mint T. and ran off with her ignoring her complains and demands for them to let her go.

"A thousand apologies," the paratroopa bowed deeply nearing doing a flip in mid air.

"Don't let this happen again," Bowser was nearing the end of his patience with Mint T. He didn't feed the nosy reporter to the chain chops only because he didn't want to upset Peach, besides the chain chops might be poisoned if they ate such an annoying creature.

"Yes sir, I mean no sir! Rest assured my king and queen, we will double the guard immediately!" The paratroopa saluted then flew off.

"Let's switch rooms," Peach suggested, "I wouldn't put it past Mint T. to install cameras and microphones in this room." If the press was nosy before, it was unbearably nosy now.

"Good idea... Are you sure you don't want me to throw Mint T. into one of the lava powered generators? Feeding her to the chain chops would be cruel... cruel to the chain chops that is; but for all we know she could make great fuel."

Peach laughed, "Bowser! You know she's not that bad, just incredibly curious... and persistent... and annoying... okay she is that bad, but you still can't throw her in the lava or feed her to the chain chops. She'll get tired of stalking us eventually."

xoxox xox xoxox

The streets were filled with a variety of confectionery stands featuring all kinds of chocolate based sweets. There were large crowds that would only get bigger when word got out that the Koopa royal family was visiting; though even if they were not informed in advance, the Chocolate Festival committee had a back up plan in case some royal visitors did show up. Thus the Koopa family was led towards the tour guide that would show them around.

"This one says 'I love you!'" Peach heard a mole merchant's high pitch voice over the crowd, the big silver bow on her head reflecting the blinding sun light and if to beckon all eyes towards her, and doing just the opposite.

"No, no," the customer looked very familiar.

"It's him..." Peach whispered under her breath. She didn't want to cause a commotion, so she slipped away from the group quietly and watched the mysterious light blue haired man. He was definitely the same man they encountered in the Forest of Illusion.

"It has to say 'let's be friends'," the man disapproved of the heart shaped chocolate, wrapped in transparent red plastic with bright red ribbons tied around it.

"Oh no, that's not what you want," the mole was certain she knew what her costumers wanted more than the customers themselves. "What you need is something that says I'm sorry, I miss you, come back to me, I love you!' and this is exactly what this chocolate says. Don't worry; she'll regret dumping you when you give her this."

The mysterious man sighed in frustration, "I never said it was for a romantic purpose and I don't even have a girlfriend."

"Yes, I know you don't, she dumped you. That's why you need to give her this chocolate to win her back." The mole with the blindingly shiny silver bow was not listening, so the frustrated mysterious man simply slipped away in the crowd.

"Excuse me," Peach followed the mysterious man.

"Queen Peach..." With so many people he didn't have a lot of room to run, but he did have plenty of distractions to help him hide and slip away with ease.

"I want to ask you a few questions if you don't mind," the people around her soon noticed that this Peach was not simply a very good cosplayer, but the real Peach. Everyone had questions and requests for autographs and pictures; it was hard to carry out a conversation like that.

"That seems to be impossible right now, and even if it was I must decline," his tone was not harsh, bitter or angry, he sounded respectful. "My most sincere apologies but I have not decided what my goal is. Be on your guard."

Peach lost sight of the strange man in the crowds. His words intrigued her, just what did he mean by advising her to be on her guard? What he said about not having decided his goal was also confusing.

"Roar!"

A wave of applause and cheers extended throughout the crowd, and not a single person there looked frightened in the least. Bowser observed the multitude, he was hoping that they would get out of the way so he could find Peach, but now people crowded even closer around it.

"Dot it again!" People cheered.

"I can't believe this... I'm not feared anymore?" If Peach had chosen Bowser as her husband, then everyone assumed there was nothing to fear. "At least I'm appreciated," he pleased the crowd with a second loud roar, but the sound of the third one was drowned out by a multitude of cheers and loud applause. "Kamek, do something!"

"What?" Kamek strained to hear what Bowser was saying.

Bowser yelled right into Kamek's face this time and if the magikoopa's ears were not ringing enough already. "Find Peach!"

"Right away, sir," Kamek's magic pushed the crowd apart, opening a path.

Peach made her way towards the clearing, passing through the magic tunnel meant to only let her and Bowser in, and the lovers were reunited.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Everyone around them began to chant, with their cameras ready to capture the moment when their wish was granted.

"Shall we give them what they want to see?" Bowser asked, grinning widely, a loving look in his eyes.

Peach blushed, she couldn't help it even if they kissed many times before, most of those times she blushed. "I wouldn't want to disappoint all these people," she gave her husband a playful smile.

The crowd quieted expectantly, then cheered and clapped as soon as their lips met. The scene reminded Peach of a movie from Earth that Pauline had mentioned, saying it was a classic in that world.

xoxox xox xoxox

Toadsworth dropped the chocolate bonbon he had just picked up. A large box of assorted chocolates had arrived from Chocolate Island as a gift for the Mushroom King and he had invited Toadsworth to have some tea and chocolate.

"That is not a proper thing to do in public," the elderly mushroom pointed at the television screen which showed a close up of Bowser and Peach kissing.

The image was being captured from a helicopter hovering above them, while Mint T.'s voice-over was heard describing the scene in so much detail that one had to wonder where she got all that information. Rather than a reporter, she sounded like a fangirl planning out the introduction of a lemony story.

"That is definitely not proper!" Toadsworth waved his pointing finger at the television, accusing the appliance as if it had committed a terrible crime.

"That isn't even happening..." The Mushroom King observed.

Toadsworth calmed down and listened as Mint T. finished her description, "Maybe all the things I said are not happening now, but we all know they do," Mint T. giggled.

"Who is she to say such things?" Toadsworth continued to point at the screen as if shooting at it with his finger.

The Mushroom King laughed, "calm down, Mint T. was exaggerating, the kiss was perfectly G rated, or PG perhaps, it was just the descriptions that were PG-13. Besides, look how happy everyone is. If anything, this helps project the stability of the marriage and reassures people that Peach made her choice out of love."

"Yes, but something must be done about Mint T., she needs to be censored or something..."

xoxox xox xoxox

After the kiss ended, Bowser and Peach made their way to where the group of koopalings was waiting along with Kamek and Kammy and the tour guide. People were still cheering and snapping pictures at them, and the helicopter would probably follow them throughout the tour. Their union was still a novelty and no one knew for how long it would continue to reach the headlines every day.

xoxox xox xoxox

Most of the day was spent sampling chocolate. The tour guide had a little story to go with each different kind of chocolate, but no one except Peach was actually listening, and she was only half paying attention. Peach took small samples of each type of chocolate; she didn't want to be too full to try a different kind when they moved down the seemingly endless line of confectionary stands.

Every now and then, Wendy would complain about her diet being ruined. But it was hard to take her concern seriously when she spoke while eating chocolate, a fact that Roy pointed out, "if you don't wanna get fat, how come you keep eating?"

Wendy responded by stomping on her brother's foot, perhaps it was the extra sugar that shortened her temper even more.

The chocolate goomba Roy was holding slipped out of his hand as he swallowed the need to scream at the top of his lugs, he didn't want to give Wendy the satisfaction. Junior caught the chocolate before it hit the ground and grinning mischievously, he ate the five inch tall chocolate goomba in one bite. Stolen chocolate tasted all the sweeter.

"That was my chocolate, shorty," Roy picked up Junior by the chocker then shot a glare at Wendy, "you're not getting away with this either!"

"Mama Peach!" Junior yelled.

"I like chocolate, I really like chocolate, chocolate is yummy, I like it a lot, there are a lot of different chocolates here, it's great!" Morton's incessant chatter continued even when his mouth was full of chocolate.

"Stop!" Peach stepped in to get the situation under control and all the koopalings froze. "Wendy, you won't gain a lot of weight just because you change your diet for one day, this is a special occasion so don't worry. When we go home we'll play sports and burn calories together, alright?"

"Like, we should totally go shopping for cute sport accessories first!" Wendy agreed.

"Yes, we can do that too," Peach knew there was no changing Wendy's mind when she decided that she wanted to go shopping. "Roy, there is plenty of chocolate left so don't worry about that goomba, you can have another. Also don't be mean to your sister."

"I was just pointing out da truth..."

"Roy..."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop."

Peach nodded, "Good." She looked at Junior, "don't eat other people's food without permission, if you wanted another chocolate goomba you should have said so."

Junior smiled and nodded, "okay mama Peach!" Peach was so gentle that it didn't sound like he was being scolded at all.

"Morton, I like chocolate too and I'm happy you're enjoying this. Bowser..." Peach then looked towards her husband who was enjoying the chocolate, "I know that the koopalings are used to fighting all the time, but when they have a fight you should at least say something to try to restore the peace."

"But they like being mean..." Besides, the koopalings listened to Peach more than to Bowser himself, even if she was very gentle with them, or maybe because she was.

Peach sighed, "not too mean I hope, and by the way, you have chocolate all over your face." Peach gestured for Bowser to come closer, he leaned to her reach and she cleaned off the chocolate on his face with a delicate handkerchief that she seemingly pulled out of nowhere. Bowser was pretty sure Peach must have a few pockets hidden in the layers of her dress; the skirt was big enough to carry quite a few things.

Then Bowser had an idea, "choco kiss?" Peach took the last bit of chocolate left in his lips with her own.

The action was caught in a close up by the helicopter that had been following the Koopa family, and Mint T.'s passionate narrations returned. Needless to say, back in the Mushroom Castle, Toadsworth was very annoyed.

xoxox xox xoxox

By the time it was noon, a large photo of Bowser and Peach's kiss was on display in the town's square, which was clearly visible from the window of the hotel where the royal family was staying. "We really need to be more careful," Peach was currently staring at the picture from the window.

"Why? Let the world know we're in love. They already know, but why not remind them? I like that picture," Bowser would make sure to get several copies to keep in all their castles.

"I think that Toadsworth was right, maybe we shouldn't be so... public."

"I don't think I can resist being near you and not kissing you..." Bowser hugged Peach from behind, kissing her on the cheek then down her neck.

"Bowser, don't!"

He froze.

Peach closed the window and pulled the curtains over the glass. She repeated the process with each window and made sure the door was locked. "You may continue."

"For a second there I thought you didn't want me to kiss you anymore." Bowser didn't even want to think about that. Peach's kisses were addicting, after tasting them for the first time, he could never get enough.

"I would miss it too much if you stopped. I just didn't want Mint T. filming us, or any other distractions."

xoxox xox xoxox

Toadsworth was at home, pointing at his television accusingly again. He dashed towards the phone and called the Mushroom King. "Your majesty, are you watching Mint T.'s report? And her theory about why Peach closed all the windows?"

"Now Toadsworth, calm down, this isn't good for your blood pressure. It's natural for a couple to want to spend time together in private. That doesn't mean that-" the Mushroom King's eyes went wide as he heard the TV, "Mint T.'s imagination is too wild... I'm sorry, I need to make another call; Mint T.'s theories about what could be happening in that room are getting out of hand."

"Y-ye-s" Toadsworth was left nearly speechless, he wasn't sure if Mint T.'s true vocation was to be a reporter or an adult novel writer. He was relieved when the live report was cut off the air. Surely Mint T. would be upset when she realized that she was no longer being broadcasted live, but she was going too far with her wild theories.

xoxox xox xoxox

In the suite next door to Peach and Bowser; Kammy was trying to nurse Kamek back to health. His stomach hurt from eating too much chocolate and his head was pounding from the noise of the crowd. He was currently laying his head on Kammy's lap, while she sat on the bed holding an icepack on his head.

Morton came in without knocking to tell his babysitter a random story. The koopaling was surprisingly silent for a full five seconds before bursting into song, "Kammy and Kamek sitting in a tree!"

"Why you little! It's not like that!" Kammy got up abruptly to chase Morton out, and poor Kamek slipped off the bed, landing on the plush carpet.

xoxox xox xoxox

Though the Koopa family had a little mountain all to themselves to watch the fireworks, they felt like they were being watched, more so than the lights in the sky.

They were all enjoying having some more chocolate, Roy most of all, he had a big sweet tooth. Bowser and Peach were cuddling as if they were in their own little world, despite knowing that they were in fact, being watched.

Ludwig was sitting in the middle of a protective circle formed by Iggy, Larry, Junior, Lemmy and Morton, who effectively formed a barrier against any fan girl who wished to sit next to the oldest Koopa Prince.

Ludwig wouldn't mind if a nice civilized girl wanted to watch the fireworks with him; but he didn't want to be on his guard thinking that the girl may glomp him and try to squeeze the life out of him any second. Ludwig once had his favorite shell cracked by the glomp of a rabbit fan girl, and right now all he wanted was to focus on the inspiration brought by the fireworks. The younger koopalings didn't know what they were doing for their brother, or else they might ask for Ludwig to do something for them in return.

Wendy was sitting between a koopa troopa and a paratroopa that had been previously fighting over her. She had very much enjoyed their battle, smiling proudly of her own "irresistible beauty".

The only two missing from the group were Kammy and Kamek who were back at the hotel. Kamek was still feeling a little ill, and Kammy had stayed behind to keep him company after assuring him several times, that it was merely an act of friendship and nothing more; though if that was the truth she wouldn't have been so insistent in making that 'fact' clear.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, the bump on the back of my head hurts much less and the one on my forehead is finally getting numb..."

Kammy decided not to comment about that and only nodded. The bump of the back of his head was the one Kamek got when Kammy threw him off in her pursuit of Morton. Kamek obtained the bump on his forehead when he innocently asked Kammy if she had any feelings for him and she attacked him with an icepack, even if he had not specified what kind of feelings he was asking about.

xoxox xox xoxox

After the Chocolate Festival was over and the Koopa family had returned home, Bowser and Peach got ready for their next trip; this time towards Sky Land, which It was a little delayed due to Peach going shopping with Wendy first.

When they were finally ready to go, Peach and Bowser disguised themselves as pink and dark green shy aways respectively and blended in perfectly.

The shy away city was pretty normal; people went about their business paying no special attention to the two visitors. This was exactly what Peach wanted, to see people in their natural environment. It looked like they were happy with how things were going and welcomed Peach as their queen. She wanted to get to know all the lands like this, and help in any way they might need.

"Help, police!" A large group of shy aways flew by in a panic, while a smaller group of shy aways dressed in blue and wearing police hats flew in the direction of the commotion.

Without giving it a second thought, Peach and Bowser rushed to see what this was all about. The man with blue hair was threatening a shy away dressed in orange with a sword.

"You again?!" Peach felt her patience run dry. She could try to reason with this young man if he was unhappy with her choices; but if he threatened the innocent that was crossing the line and reason alone would not be enough.

Bowser stepped forward, though he was still in his shy away disguise. "You'll have a lot of explaining to do when and if you recover from this."

Bowser was about to lift his mask to breath fire on the mysterious man, but Peach stopped him. "Everyone stand back!" The circle of spectators that had gathered quickly dissipated and flew away in time to escape the blast of Peach's bomb.

The mysterious man had taken the blast full force, though he only had a few scratches from it proving that he was not invulnerable but quite strong. "Something like that cannot truly harm me."

"I wasn't trying to injure you, I only wanted to knock some sense into you," Peach clarified. "I assume you know who we are?"

"Yes..."

Bowser could stay silent for no longer, "what's your problem? You must be really stupid causing trouble for us, or maybe you're just suicidal."

"Nothing is what it appears to be. I have not decided what is best so I cannot tell you what needs to be done..." The man gripped his sword, the weapon shining with an unnatural glow of origins as puzzling as its wielder.

"Who ever said you could decide," a few sparks escaped when Bowser yelled, making his mask catch on fire. He took it off immediately, revealing that his appearance had not changed too much underneath the disguise, he was only smaller and had wings.

"I'm tired of letting them make all the choices..." The way the mystery man spoke confirmed that he wasn't in this alone.

"Enough, Altuvir, return now!" A thunderous voice echoed as if it was coming from every direction, and in a flash on light, the blue haired man disappeared.

A few curious shy aways cautiously approached, "use the pendant again," Peach whispered.

Bowser used the pendant to produce another mask and hid his true identity. The shy aways were confused and scared; no one knew what was going on. Peach and Bowser slipped away relatively easily, no one dared to stop the pink shy away who used the bomb.

"Let's go back home, I told Kamek to investigate but he's not doing a good job," Bowser was very displeased and Kamek would hear about it.

"Yes, but before that, let's hide somewhere and change back to normal. The shy aways need to be reassured that something is being done to ensure their safety, and we can't do that while hiding who we are."

xoxox xox xoxox

After a short public speech and another improvised little party, the residents of Sky Land were far calmer. But when Peach and Bowser returned home, the news that was waiting for them was rather unpleasant.

"Did he survive?" Peach inquired after listening to the report of how an orange shy away had snuck into the castle, only to be attacked by a blue haired man before the guards could catch either of them.

The Neon Castle had been placed on high alert and the Koopa family was to move to a different one. So far, Kamek's often interrupted investigation remained fruitless with few clues leading in circles.

"He disappeared, dissolved," the blond koopa troopa wasn't sure how to explain the report; he didn't know what exactly happened.

"Teleportation?" Bowser asked.

"Not quite, I'm sure the blue haired man's sword connected with the orange shy away. It was like being killed without leaving a body behind," and it puzzled the guards greatly.

"Altuvir..." Peach frowned, "just who is he really? And that shy away... I don't know why, but I'm sure that wasn't just a random civilian who got caught up in this."

"Whatever he's planning he will be captured," Bowser directed a glare at the koopa troopa who immediately saluted nervously.

"Yes, sir!" He didn't need to be told he could leave, it was perfectly clear that it was time to go and what his orders were.

xoxox xox xoxox

The royal Koopa family had been moved to a castle in Grassland while the investigation about Altuvir continued. The koopalings were playing the 'Bowser Party' video game and actually getting along. Peach had promised them a cake so she was baking it in the kitchen. Bowser watched as his beloved mixed the batter. "Do you want to help?" She finally asked.

"Sure, we'll make the best cake," truth be told, the process of baking a cake didn't look particularly hard, but Bowser knew there had to be some trick to it if the quality of cakes varied so much. Of course Peach's cakes were the best.

"It's not too hard, just find another whisk and mix the batter, I already added the ingredients to the second bowl."

"Alright, be ready for a super Bowser cake!" Bowser found a whisk in one of the kitchen drawers; the only problem was that it was a battery powered whisk. Of course he didn't think it was a problem, if anything it would make up for his inexperience in baking.

Peach saw the whisk, "don't-" but her warning came too late.

The whisk spun around in the bowl, slipping out of Bowser's hand, he didn't expect it to spin that fast. The batter was sprayed in every direction, most of it lading on Peach and Bowser. By the time Bowser turned the whisk off, there was hardly any batter left in the bowl. "Oops..."

"I guess it's a cake batter kiss this time?"

"Sounds like a great idea."

The door to the kitchen was silently opened and neither Bowser nor Peach heard the quiet foot steps approaching. Between laughs, giggles and other pleasurable sounds, the one who had entered the kitchen was starting to feel very uncomfortable. The intruder breathed deeply but he did not have the chance to speak when five koopa troopas, three paratroopas and a goomba tackled him turning him into the base of their living mountain.

Such a loud noise could not go unheard, and thus Bowser and Peach finally realized that they were not alone in the kitchen.

"You have one second to get out of here!" Bowser did not like interruptions, especially when they happened during his time with Peach.

The koopa troopas, paratroopas and the goomba, scrambled to get out of the kitchen, leaving the flattened intruder on the floor. "Ow..." the mysterious blue haired man, formally know as Altuvir, spoke.

"It's you again!" Peach readied a bomb and Bowser looked like he was about to breath fire.

"Wait! I'm not here to fight, I have finally decided!" Altuvir announced. "It is not them or I who should decide. I am considering leaving the choice to you, because in the end that is the way it should be." He took off the sword he carried on his back, leaving it inside the sheath, and held it up horizontally at both ends. "I give you this sword, the sword that one unrightfully claims as their own and the other wishes to obtain. It is a sword of legend; but to them, its power is both insignificant and irrelevant. It is nothing but a mere trophy to be won in an unjust bet. Queen Peach, please accept this."

Bowser snatched the sword away from Altuvir, "don't touch it Peach, it's probably cursed!" Bowser didn't fully expect to be right, but in the odd chance that the sword was, in fact, cursed, he didn't want to expose Peach to the danger. Bowser knew that his beloved queen wanted Altuvir to live and serve as the key to solving this mystery, hence why he had not incinerated the intruder where he stood.

"You must give the sword to Peach!" Altuvir sounded alarmed.

Bowser thought his urgency was suspicious, even more so when the sword began to glow and he felt as if his energy was being drained. "I knew it, it was a trap!"

"No, you must believe me! This sword has an incantation to slay dragons. You're a koopa so it doesn't affect you as much, but you are also a descendant of the dragons." Altuvir tried to explain.

"I'm not falling for your tricks!" Bowser threw a fire ball at Altuvir, which he narrowly avoided.

"I see, I see! How interesting!" Mint T. popped out of a random cabinet and started snapping pictures. "So the entire different species thing runs in the family, eh? First a koopa and dragon, and now a koopa and a human. But it's too bad that the romantic moment was interrupted!"

Peach stepped in to try to end the chaos. "Bowser, give me the sword," she took it before he could hold it out of her reach. "I don't feel anything, it looks like Altuvir was telling the truth about this sword... but we're still detaining him here until he answers a few questions." Peach glanced at Altuvir.

The blue haired man opposed no resistance and complied, "I will answer all your questions; I did already say I would give the choice to you." But that choice he spoke of was still a mystery, there were many things that had to be clarified.

"Good, and for you..." Peach looked at Mint T. "This is your last warning, stop spying or I'll have you fired from the Mushroom News and cancel your late night talk show."

"No! Not my talk show!" Mint T. pleaded. "We were going to have a special about the best lemons the readers sent!"

"Not happening," Peach decided.

"But... but... why?" Mint T. begged.

"Lemons... What kind of a talk show is that?" To the amusement of everyone else in the kitchen, it became apparent that Bowser had pictured the fruits when Mint T. spoke of the lemons.

Peach giggled then tried to look serious, "It's been decided and that's final, now leave and don't try to trespass again." How Mint T. managed to get past the many guards was a mystery to Peach.

xoxox xox xoxox

The room's appearance was classic. A single light shone above the plain table, one chair located in front of it where the suspect sat, while the investigators paced around the room thinking of theories and asking questions. Altuvir wondered if it was really necessary.

"First of all," Peach began, "who are 'they' the people who want your sword?"

"The same who made me disappear before," Altuvir replied.

"Then why are you not disappearing now?" Bowser asked.

Altuvir wasn't sure if the king wanted him gone or if he wished to prevent his escape. "I did not mean to be teleported away that time. I made a wish to the Star Road to break my connection to those beings..."

"And those beings are?" Peach repeated her previous question.

"Stars, beings above the first layer of the Star Road, but not above its power. They are guardians assigned to certain territories." Altuvir observed Peach and Bowser trying to see if they had believed him. "I will tell you the entire story."

"When I was a small child I did not have anyone. I do not know what happened to my family. A star named Calipha took me in and trained me to act as a hero working in secret. My name is unknown here and even in my homeland few know about me, but the stars who see it all know the name of Altuvir."

"Calipha believes I should be honored by my role and should not seek anything more. There is another star being, Bit who oversees the territories from the eastern border of the Mushroom Kingdom all the way to the Barrel Volcano near Land's End. Calipha believed that Bit was not doing a good job, that she allowed the Star Road to shelter people too much and at the same time have too much freedom. But Bit argued that it was Calipha who was prying too much into people's lives."

"Bit's rules offer more support but less guidance, allowing people to learn at their own pace, make mistakes and recover from them. Calipha tries keeps a closer watch on people offering more guidance to prevent mistakes from happening and less support should they happen, thus letting that serve as an example of the consequences. Their styles are similar but different. Yet, it all balances out."

"Bit and Calipha are both up in ranks; however, because of the uniqueness of each wish that reaches the Star Road, there is a necessity to give them all careful consideration. With such diversity it would be impossible to set rules that would encompass all the needed guidelines for such large territories. Instead, both Bit and Calipha set some basic rules and the Star Road, which is divided into different departments to serve the wishes of each area, add another layer of rules in the smaller ramifications to address the most common wished known to that area. As they say, one's trash is another's treasure, and the worth of a wish varies greatly from person to person. One might find happiness in a wish that another would never even think of making."

"In the end, it results in those rules being so general that it is as if Bit and Calipha were not even there. Each wish is examined and evaluated by the Star Road, each star possessing a portion of the power that makes up the Star Road as a whole. Both Bit and Calipha are merely figureheads on the top, whose influence does not quite reach the bottom of the chain of command."

"Even so, each of them like most, if not all, living beings, has an opinion, and those opinions are different; not always exact opposites, but different. They are settling a meaningless disagreement with this bet. Calipha cannot decide your fates, but she believes that you should not be together. Bit, who cannot decide either for the choice is yours, believes you should remain together."

"Calipha will try to make you break up for the next year, and I who served Calipha was supposed to help. If the year passed and you are still together, then Bit would win the bet and my sword, as a trophy of her victory. If Calipha wins she will gain control of Bit's territories and apply her set of rules. However, the stars who do the real work in the Star Road will be the same, so it is likely that the change will barely be noticeable if at all."

"That is so inconsiderate and selfish!" Peach frowned; those stars had gone too far.

By now Bowser was fuming. "I'm going," he announced, "I'm going to the Star Road and knocking some since into those stars! Just who do they think they are betting on Peach and me? Calipha will pay!"

"I have left her side. Those of the Star Road know of what has happened and granted my wish. She can no longer call me at will; I am no property of Calipha anymore. My wish was freedom," Altuvir revealed.

"You shouldn't have been property to begin with." Peach remembered something, "but that doesn't give you the right to hurt people. That orange shy away, who was he?"

"Not a living being at all but a ghost. It was a Boo in disguise. I did not harm him, but merely returned him to his original shape. He was quite embarrassed and turned invisible then left." Altuvir revealed.

"I see, then it's clear what needs to be done," Peach looked determined.

"Right, we have to throw Calipha in the lava!" Bowser's idea was tempting, but Peach knew it wouldn't quite work out.

"First we have to find Calipha, or maybe Bit..." Peach considered the options. "We should talk to Bit first, then we'll see Calipha and try to have them call off the bet and never make such bets again. We could contact Elderstar as well, I'm sure he would disapprove of this bet and help us, but then, if most the stars in the Star Road know, then wouldn't he know as well? Can he not stop this?"

"Not really, with people making so many wishes everyday, the big stars in that department of the Star Road are probably swamped with work, and no one will share the latest gossip with an old star. That's why I didn't inform him," a small moment of silence passed.

Peach gave Altuvir a quizzical look, "you mean you could have?"

"Why didn't you try to fix this mess sooner?" Bowser yelled.

"I was trying to decide which was best for the world because the hero in the shadows role has been hammered into me for so long. You know, the entire sacrifice of the few for the masses? I wanted to know who was best to have in charge, Bit or Calipha and I wanted to help make it happen. Then I thought the decision should lie with the two of you, even if I knew right away what your choice would be. Also, while researching I realized how Bit and Calipha's influence was lots from one level of control to another."

"That still doesn't explain it," Bowser was not satisfied with the answer.

"I didn't want to be a tell tale." Cue the awkward silence and strange looks. "What? I'm sick of playing the goody-goody hero who doesn't even take credit and doesn't go on adventures just helping out with insignificant little things. I know it can mean a lot to those who receive the help but I'm sick of it, I want some credit, I want adventure, I want to stop being a goody-goody!"

"Well said!"

"Bowser!" Peach wasn't sure if she should stop Bowser from encouraging Altuvir's anti-hero rebellion, or if she should simply be amused by her husband's reaction to Altuvir's unexpected confession. "Either way, this is troublesome. We need to think of a way to find Bit and Calipha."

Kamek suddenly teleported into the room, "I found it!" He looked at Altuvir, Peach and Bowser. "This man is..."

"Never mind, just find a way to go to the Star Road, I need to go fry Calipha!" Bowser was getting impatient.

Kamek sighed in disappointment, "I worked so hard on this investigation and you already know. At least the spell I came up with will be useful. I can teleport us to Star Hill and from there, open a gateway to the Star Road!"

"Right, but let's talk to Bit first," she was the one betting that Peach and Bowser would stay together, so Peach thought she would be the most reasonable out of the two involved in the bet.

"I wish to go as well," Altuvir requested.

"Alright, we can all go," Peach agreed.  
Kamek teleported them to Star Hill and got ready to cast his spell.

"No that's not right!" An unknown voice echoed. "Use the power of love!"

"That's Bit's voice!" Altuvir recognized her.

Bit giggled, "If you use the power of love I'll go over there so you won't have to come all the way here!"

"The power of love?" Kamek echoed, "what does that mean?"

"A kiss, I believe," Altuvir replied, "Bit likes the two of you as a couple, she's watching and wants to see you kiss."

"Make it a long one!" Bit's voice echoed.

"This Bit star isn't so bad," maybe this time Bowser could be a little more forgiving as Peach as he should be. But Calipha was still in trouble. "Peachy?"

"This isn't a show but it's alright, just one last time," Peach agreed.

"One last time?" Bowser didn't like the sound of that.

"I mean one last time in public," Peach clarified. The king and queen kissed while Altuvir, Kamek and Bit watched silently. Several minutes passed and the kiss continued becoming more passionate and loving as the seconds went by, until Peach ended it. "I almost forgot there were people watching."

Bowser looked at his audience, "oh yeah..." clearly he had forgotten all about them too. "Let's continue later," he whispered, and Peach's playful smile indicated her agreement.

"Aw how cute!" A odd human looking girl with long silver hair and matching glowing eyes stood before them. "Nice meeting you, I'm Bit!"

"Aren't you supposed to be a star," Bowser pointed at her.

Bit poked the end of Bowser's claw with the tip of her silver nail and giggled as if it was the funniest thing ever. Bowser just looked confused. "He's just adorable when he's all confused like that, how cute!"

Bowser blinked, "you're making fun of me," he realized, "I'll incinerate you for that!"

"No you won't because I'm your shipper!" Bit stuck her tongue out.

"Shipper? What exactly do you ship because I don't remember ordering anything for you," Bowser scuffed.

Bit only giggled some more, "what did I tell you, super cute. But Ludwig is my favorite. He's so cute!"

"Bit, I don't know what you're planning but this is directly interfering with the bet! And you, traitor Altuvir, you dare show your face in my presence?" Another girl appeared this one with magenta fur and green eyes. She wasn't human looking at all, but instead looked like a strangely colored humanoid fox.

"I got here first," Altuvir pointed out.

"Anyway, given the fact that Calipha can no longer keep her end of the deal if I win, the bet is invalid." Bit materialized a scroll in her hands.

"Invalid? What are you talking about? Do you doubt I can recover Altuvir's sword?" The sword which Peach still carried, disappeared and reappeared in Calipha's hands, "as you can see I can easily obtain it."

"However," bit grinned confidently. "Altuvir is no longer your property and thus that sword is not yours either. Besides," she snatched the sword from Calipha and handed it back to Peach, "that's not what the contract stated."

Calipha received the scroll Bit handed her and looked over it. "It clearly states that you will receive Altuvir's sword if you win, and dare I say your grammar is terrible." Bit giggled and Calipha came to a realization. Calipha examined the contract in detail, "Altuvir Sword... you were not talking about Altuvir's sword, this contract is for Altuvir Sword," Calipha realized. "It wasn't a mistake, first name Altuvir, last name Sword, you tricked me!"

Bit laughed, "you signed it!"

Calipha crossed her arms and muttered, "I hate you," she pouted and disappeared.

Bit continued to laugh. "She just needs to cool off, she hated being outsmarted. Well my dearest Altuvir, you finally earned your freedom and with that you annulated the bet. Calipha has no reason to bother Peach and Bowser again, she's gutless when it comes to vengeance and probably will want nothing to do with anyone here after this so we can all relax."

"Did you plan this all along?" Altuvir asked.

Bit nodded, "yup!"

"Do you have any idea how troublesome that was?" Bowser was annoyed beyond annoyed.

"I'll make it up to you," Bit continued to smile and giggle.

"all along, the sword was not the target... I could have ended this sooner but I didn't know... I am sorry," Altuvir apologized.

"It's not your fault, I'm just glad it's over," Peach returned the sword to Altuvir, "I think I can trust you with this."

"Of course, thank you Queen Peach," Altuvir received the sword.

Kamek sighed, "how anti-climatic..." his voice was an inaudible whisper.

"Alright then, now that everything is settled I'll tell you this, I may be out of practice, but I can grant wishes too, I am a star after all; I just like this form best." Bit materialized some cue cards into her hands and held them up. "This is Bowser's line."

Bowser looked at the cue cards, silently reading them, then reread them aloud, "I wish the koopalings could go on vacation to Bit's amusement park and arcade in the world of the stars."

"Wait a minute, just the koopalings?" Peach asked.

Bowser realized that he and Peach were indeed missing from the wish written in the cue card and he regretted not saying something about it sooner. "What's this about not inviting us?"

"Relax, I have something special for the two of you! Now wish for Bit's wish to be granted." Bit giggled.

"Should she really be trusted?" Kamek expressed his concern.

"Oh shut, you'll get plenty of alone time with Kammy out of this so don't complain!" Bit stuck out her tongue and Kamek said nothing more.

"This once I think is alright to take a risk; I wish that Bit's wish was granted." A thick envelope appeared floating in front of Peach. She took it and found several pairs of tickets. "What's all this?"

Bit giggled, "My wish is for my favorite couple to have a well deserved honey moon. Don't worry about anything, I'll take good care of Ludwig and keep him busy so he won't get bored while you're traveling together... um I mean the koopalings, yes the koopalings, I'll entertain them all!"

Unexpectedly Mint T. popped out from behind a rock. "What a wonderful conclusion!" Her voice was filled with sarcasm. "But you won't mind if I alter it a little to make it sound more epic in my show right? Because quite frankly this was very anti climatic!"

"Did I mention that wish includes that you will not be interrupted during your honey moon?" Bit made an okay sign.

"Then I'll spear her life," Bowser decided, "just so she can suffer with not being able to stalk us during our trip! Mawhahaha!"

Mint T. pouted, "that's so mean! Keeping me away like that... Bit, at least you're going to appear in my show since Bowser and Peach keep refusing my invitations. Interview with the Bowser Peach shipping silver star who has an obsession with blue haired men!"

Bit blinked, "how in the world did you know that?"

"Do not underestimate the media!" Mint T. cheered.

Aside from Mint T. who never convinced any of her guest prospects to appear on her show, everyone else got their happy ending. Kamek and Kammy got some quiet time alone, Peach and Bowser would finally be going on their honey moon, and the koopalings would go on vacation to the land of the stars, everybody wins! Well, maybe Ludwig would have some difficulties, but for the most part, it was a happy ending to another story in the life of the Koopa family.

End of Event 63

Disclaimer, I do not own the Nintendo characters. Bit, Calipha and Altuvir are mine, the Mario concepts are not. 


	60. Events 64 to 65

I'm still getting things organized and moving files around. These are old, I just moved them to the collection and deleted the separate one shots.

Vacation

**Event 64: Secret Origin**

"Finally some peace and quiet" Bowser said as he walked around his castle. A few koopa troopas walked by marching in silence. A pair of goombas were quietly cleaning a statue of him and the lava boiled quietly in the background. As he reached the throne room he noticed how big and empty it looked. The piranha plant in the corner was asleep, it no longer had anyone to poke it with a stick. It was probably happy but soon that plant would get bored and start to miss being poked.

There were no chain chops running about chewing on things. They were securely tied up with no one to free them for their amusement. No bob-ombs randomly set up as if explosions were the best cure for boredom. No arguing, no yelling, no objects being thrown, no noises at all save for the sounds that were so quiet and so common day to day that Bowser hardly noticed them. No temper tantrums, no sibling rivalry, no koopalings, he missed them already.

Bowser sat down in the large throne. He looked at the gray stone walls that looked more dull and boring than ever before. No even the bright red carpet that matched the throne's soft red covers looked like a bright color to him. As if to get his mind off the seven koopaling who would not return for some time he thought of Peach. Surely having her in the castle would make things livelier. He needed something to keep himself entertained. He thought he would enjoy the peace and quiet while his seven children were on vacation traveling around the world but he was quickly bored.

The koopalings, now teenagers, were old enough to go out on their own. They wanted to see the world. The endless routine of watching their father kidnap Peach and fight the Mario brothers was boring them every time it happened. Bowser let them go he knew they would return just as soon as they got enough of traveling. When they saw so many different places that the initial excitement started to ware off they would start to miss home. Eventually they would see so many worlds they world start to wonder how much their home has changed over time and they would return.

Bowser got up from the throne and exited the throne room. He would kidnap Peach again. That would make him feel better then the castle wouldn't feel so empty without his children. "Everyone get ready for the princess's arrival. Prepare to battle the Mario brothers again!" Bowser said as he passed some of the koopa troopa guards. The guards quickly ran off to inform the rest of the army.

"Attention!" A koopa troopa of a high ranks called to the group of soldiers standing in neat even lines in front of him. "The next battle with the Mario brothers could be sooner than we expect. We must be ready for when the king gives the order!"

"Lieutenant!" Another koopa troopa called saluting.

"Ker s, what do you have to report?" The lieutenant asked. Surely the soldier's urgent tone was for a reason.

"I have just received confirmation that King Bowser is leaving towards princess Peach's castle as we speak. She will be arriving soon and we must prepare for battle!" Ker s a koopa troopa with a yellow shell said. The lieutenant wasted no time in organizing his troops and quickly discussed some strategies while Ker s ran off to inform other battalions.

Just outside the castle grounds in an empty portion of Darkland territory the paratroopas were training flaying at high speeds and executing sharp turns in the sky. "Captain!" A paratroopa with a light blue shell called. She saluted and the captain nodded indicating for her to go on. "We must return to the castle immediately and prepare for battle. King Bowser will arrive with princess Peach shortly!"

"All troops assemble!" The captain called. The paratroopas snapped into attention and flew towards him floating in straight lines in front of him. "We will return to the castle, a new battle is on its way!"

Back at the Koopa castle the troops ran about getting everything ready for Peach's arrival. Goombas scrambled some of them quite confused. Others had already caught on and knew the princess would be there shortly. "Gabriella what's going on?" A paragoomba asked.

The goomba maid, Gabriella was busily cleaning a guest room that was already clean to begin with. "I must make this room spotless. It has to be perfect before king Bowser arrives with princess Peach!"

"Peach's coming? Why doesn't anyone tell goombas anything?" The paragoomba complained. He was always the last one to find out when something important was going to happen.

"Just help me inspect to the room to make sure everything's perfect. We don't have much time!" Gabriella said.

By then Bowser had flown to the Mushroom Kingdom in his helicopter. A group of paratroopas fallowed him close by while a group of koopa troopas fallowed bellow on land. He was in luck the princess was in the garden alone at the time. It was easy for him to fly down and get her in the helicopter then fly away. The mushroom guards ran towards the spot where the princess had been as fast as their short legs allowed them to move but it was already too late.

"Call the Mario brothers! Call the Mario brothers!" Toad yelled as he and the others ran about in a panic.

Of course the Mario brothers were informed but they couldn't enter the Darklands easily. As Bowser flew other his territory with Peach she saw the troops already assembled all around the castle ready to defend it. "The Mario brothers will come" Peach said.

"They won't get to the castle, not this time" Bowser replied.

Peach looked down at the troops. The Mario brothers were outnumbered but they had always been outnumbered before and that didn't prevent victory. "They'll save me."

"From what?" Bowser asked as if it was a big mystery.

Peach paused. "From you..." How could he not know the answer to that? "They'll take me home" she added.

"Maybe you should get used to calling this your home" Bowser said. Peach didn't reply. There was no use in trying to argue with him. It's not like she could ever get him to change his mind and let her go.

Upon arriving at the Koopa castle Peach was taken to a guest room. She knew she would be there for a while before hearing any the news from the Mario brothers. She always found out what was going on and knew how close they were to saving her. She let herself fall into the soft guestroom bed and stared at the ceiling. Bowser was probably off giving orders and explaining all the details of his latest plans. He was probably receiving information from his spies and finding out what route the Mario brothers had taken.

Bowser wouldn't be back for a while so maybe she could pass the time by taking a nap. Peach shook her head at her own thoughts. Shouldn't she be worried to the point where she couldn't sleep even if she tried? But she was confident in Mario. He would come; she only had to wait for him and she knew she wasn't in any danger while she waited. She closed her eyes and let sleep come.

Peach woke up about an hour later to the sound of a door being opened and foot steps entering the room. She was a light sleeper and the softest sound could wake her up. She got up and glanced at a golden clock on the wall before walking over to a window and opening it letting a breeze of fresh air enter the room. "Are you enjoying your stay Peach?" Bowser asked. She could tell he was a few feet away behind her.

Peach looked out the window. The troops around the castle were still in their position from before, still waiting for the Mario brothers to arrive. Paratroopas circled the castle guarding it from very angle occasionally flying by her window and taking a look inside to make sure she was still there. "Any news from Mario?"

"He's half way here but that's as far as he'll go" Bowser said.

Maybe Peach would have to wait for another hour if getting half way there took on hour to accomplish. Or maybe a little more if the next challenges were harder. Two hours, two hours at most and she would be rescued. She only needed to be patient.

She turned around facing Bowser with her back now to the window. A breeze of cool air threw a strand of golden blonde hair in her face as she turned. She gently removed the hair from her face pushing it behind her ear and adjusted her crown. Then she ran a hand delicately down her hair. A hair fell on the flood when her hand reached the end. It was just one hair, no more than anyone would find in their brush every day.

The breeze carried the hair towards Bowser and the silky string of gold stopped at his feet. He picked it up and looked at it gently cradling it in his hand as if it was made of fragile glass. "It's just a hair" Peach said finding his behavior a little strange.

Bowser snapped out of his daze and back into reality. "I know" he said looking at the soft gold in his hand. "I picked it up so you wouldn't step on it and trip." He made up an excuse, one that sounded so much better in his head.

Peach blinked, she smiled then she laughed. "I'm not going to trip over a hair!"

Bowser watched her. Technically she was laughing at him but that was not the point. The point was that she was laughing. He never caused her to smile no matter how hard he tried and now he did without even trying. "I just wanted to make sure. Do you mind if I keep it?"

"Why do you ask?" Peach asked. Of all the strange questions he could ask her he was asking her if he could keep a hair that was obviously of no use to her and she clearly had no intentions of keeping for herself.

"It's yours. I don't want to steal it from you" Bowser said.

"You steal me from my home all the time. What is stealing a hair compared to that? Go on and keep it" Peach said a little weirded out. The word stalker came to mind. Such an obsession was both flattering and strange.

Peach turned her attention back to the window and the room fell silent. She knew Bowser hasn't moved. He was probably still staring at the hair if not at the back of her head. It was something so simple yet he made it sound like it was so important.

"I thank you for your gift" Bowser said before leaving the room.

Peach couldn't help it but to smile. The entire situation was just too funny. She imagined what it would be like if he arrived to kidnap her while she was getting a hair cut. She imagined him picking up every piece of hair on the floor and keeping each one while her stylist gave him odd looks and she just laughed at the amusing situation. He would wait for her haircut to be finished before kidnapping her just to he could keep the pieces she lo longer needed regardless of how many odd looks he got from people. She shook her head ending her imagined scene and focused on the horizon out the window far away. Aside from the military touch that the troops gave the scenery it was over all a nice view filled with tones of bright red and orange contrasting with the grey skies.

Meanwhile Bowser was talking to Kamek bringing a very unusual request to his attention. "You want me to what?" Kamek asked not sure if he had heard correctly. He hoped not, he certainly hoped not.

"Clone me, but make the clone smaller, younger, only a child" Bowser said.

"Do you miss the koopalings that much already? They'll be back. Eventually they'll get tired of traveling, going on vacation, the freedom, the new places, the sights to see" Kamek paused. The way he was phrasing it didn't sound like they would be getting tired of it any time soon. "Are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely sure" Bowser answered. "Now do it!" He ordered.

Kamek sighted in defeat. "Alright but I'll need a DNA sample from you which I can get by magic. It might feel a little weird."

"That's fine, just do it and include this" Bowser showed Kamek Peach's hair.

"A hair?" Kamek took the hair carefully not to drop it or they might lose it.

"Peach's hair" Bowser said. As if Kamek hasn't already guessed.

"This is hardly anything to work with. It's just a hair" Kamek said. Bowser didn't look like he approved and he was clearly getting impatient. "I can still include it. I'm just saying it won't make a big difference."

"But it will be there" Bowser said.

"Yes." With a wave of his wand Kamek made the hair float in mid air. He shot a beam of magic at Bowser who started to glow in all the colors of the rainbow and more.

The Koopa king felt as if he was being ripped apart. Maybe getting a DNA sample with a needle would have been more convenient than getting it by magic had he known how it felt. Weird wasn't quite the word to describe it.

Once he had enough DNA to work with Kamek united Bowser's DNA sample with Peach's hair and the entire mass of magic began to take the shape of an egg. With his work done Kamek made the egg float towards Bowser who took it.

"An egg?" Bowser said.

"You said you wanted the clone to be a child. It's easier to make him an egg. The hair was used to create him but like I said it's not much so he'll most likely be just like you. An almost exact replica" Kamek explained.

"Almost exact but not completely, he'll still have a bit of Peach in him if only a little" Bowser said. That was the secret origin of Bowser Jr.

End of Event 64

xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox xox xoxox

**Event 65: Snow Storm**

Bowser's clown copter crashes during a snow storm and he and Peach are trapped in a cave waiting it out. Light BowserxPeach fluff.

The harsh winter wind blew threatening to make Bowser's copter crash. Peach held on to the rail of the clown copter with both hands and closed her eyes tightly. Of all the times Bowser could have kidnapped her why did it have to be right in the middle of a violent snow storm?

The wind pulled on her hair turning it into a mess of tangled up gold. Her crown had long since been blown away as if it were light as a feather which Peach knew it wasn't. The clown copter shook and Peach held on tighter. "We're going to crash!" She screamed in fear. Deep down she just wanted to hear Bowser tell her that they wouldn't crash, that somehow he was prepared to face the storm ad bring her safely to his castle but no answer came.

Peach looked at the Koopa King who was focused on steering the clown copter. She didn't like that worried expression he had. A loud noise was heard from bellow as if the propeller hit something. Bowser tried to force it to gain altitude to no avail. It was impossible to see how high they were flying and if they were even going in the right direction in the thick snow that was continuously thrown at their faces.

Bowser had enough. He would melt that annoying snow the wind kept throwing at him one way or another. He took a deep breath and blew out flames as hard a he could. For a brief moment the light of the fire reflected off the falling snow flakes creating a light like the aurora and a path of vision was cleared.

Peach suddenly felt a little safer. Bowser was certainly strong sometimes she forgot how powerful he could be since he was surprisingly gentle towards her. That light was so beautiful that for a moment she forget where she was and with whom. Reality hit her full force when she manage to snap out of hr daze long enough to notice that the scenery she saw bellow was not familiar to her. "Where are we?" Peach asked yelling over the howling wind.

The effect of Bowser's flames quickly dissipated and the window of vision once again turned to infinite whiteness. "We're almost to the castle" Bowser assured her.

Peach did not have time to reply for the clown copter went crashing down like a ten ton rock without warning. She screamed and yelled louder than she ever had before. She truly feared for her life this time because this time it wasn't another of Bowser's plans, this time he wasn't in control of the situation.

Bowser didn't know what it in the world had caused them to crash. Though they felt the copter shake when the propeller hit something earlier it did not crash and now they were crashing for no apparent reason. Wait, the propeller that's it, it had stopped spinning. Even with the howling wind it was possible to hear its faint humming before. The hit must have damaged something that took a while to tare completely apart. He didn't have time to think of the satiation further. He held on to Peach and braced himself for a crash.

Though the hit was definitely hard, Bowser's shell was harder. He appeared to be unharmed save for being kind of stuck. Peach was on top of him having received practically no impact. "Bowser?" She found it odd that she didn't feel the fall how she expected to. The world was cold endless white swirling around her. Where did Bowser go? "Bowser!"

"Right here" The voice was close by, in fact it came from directly bellow. No wonder she didn't feel like she was on the cold ground, she wasn't. "I'm going to try to clear a path."

Peach knew exactly what he meant by that, more fire. "Alright I'm ready. She made sure to stay out of the way and once again Bowser's fire breath crated an opening in the endless white with the pretty light show from before. This time Peach made sure to scan the area instead of marveling at the aurora like lights. "There's a cave near by" she pointed.

"We'd best wait out the storm there. This isn't how it is supposed to be. Sorry I can't take you to better accommodations right now princess" Bowser said.

"This will have to do." The last thing on her mind was running away now, that would be suicidal in that storm. She started walking towards the cave. Though the path created by the fire closed she knew which way it was from what she saw. "Bowser?" She knew he wasn't fallowing her. She didn't feel his warm aura near by like before.

"It seems I'm a little stuck" Bowser confessed with embarrassment evident in his voice. "Go wait inside that cave and don't think of running off, you know it's dangerous. I'll be with you shortly."

Peach considered going on to the cave. Bowser probably deserved to be stuck on the cold ground during a snow storm as payback for taking her out of her nice warm castle but she didn't have the heart to leave him there. "I'll give you a hand." She walked back towards Bowser but due to the strong winds she had advanced less than she calculated so Bowser was still closer than she thought. She took a few steps and tripped over him falling on top of the Koopa King again. She got up as quickly as the wind allowed her to and pulled his claw up in a futile attempt to help him to his feet. She knew she couldn't possibly lift him but she had to try.

"It's not working, go inside princess this weather is bad for you" Bowser said. His voice sounded more distance as he became buried in the snow. Despite his natural warm aura he was really feeling the cold. Peach used to think that koopas couldn't feel temperature changes but apparently they could, they just had a strong resistance to it, or rather a strong resistance to hot temperatures. Peach could tell Bowser didn't like the cold.

"I can't just leave you here to freeze in this-ouch!" Peach was interrupted by the unpleasant feeling of a small branch colliding with her.

"Peach? Are you alright? What happened I can't se a thing with all this snow" Bowser asked.

"I'm fire, it was just a stick." She paused as she held the branch that was in fact more than just a stick and got an idea. "Can you light this?"

"Ow" Bowser complained when Peach hit him on the nose with the small branch.

"Oops, sorry." She kept poking at him to try to make it easier for him to light the 'stick' but it wasn't quite working.

"Ow, hey, yuck, get that thing out of my mouth wood tastes terrible. You should just go inside. I'm going to clear out some snow but the hot air around us won't last for long, ready?" Bowser asked.

Peach backed away. "Now."

Bowser breathed fire once again creating a bubble of warm air around them. Peach snatched some flames on the branch. "Keep that up for a moment. It seems your shell is stuck on some ice." Peach worked quickly to free him knowing that if not for the warm air the flames on her improvised torch would have already been put out. "There, you should be able to move now."

With a little effort Bowser was once again on his feet. "It worked... I didn't know you cared Peachy."

"Don't push your luck, let's go to the cave" Peach said in half amusement.

Meanwhile at Peach's castle Toad braved the storm to inform the Mario brothers that the princes had once again been captured. He moved in little steps against the wind practically swimming in the thick snow. Just when he thought he was almost to the gates the wind would blow harder and send him flying until he hit the castle doors. It was like that for all the other toads trying to accomplish the same mission of informing the Mario brothers of the recent happenings. Unfortunately all forms of communications were down due to the storm.

At first when ever a toad crashed against the door a toad butler would open it wondering who could be visiting during a storm and hoping that it was Mario back with the princess. However it was just a fellow toad victim to the wind. The butter had given up and decided that he would not open the door unless he heard someone calling to confirm that they indeed wanted to go inside and weren't just loosing another round against the strong wind, which remained undefeated by the toads.

Inside the cave the storm wasn't as bad. Bowser and Peach sat in front of a fire the Koopa King made. The princess was pale, almost blue from the cold and shivering constantly. Although she mentally kicked herself for it she sat close to Bowser almost leaning on him in search of warmth.

"I didn't mean for this to happen" the koopa king said sounding somewhat apologetic at the princess's obvious discomfort.

"I know but you really need to plan these things better. Couldn't you wait and kidnap me after the storm ended or better yet not kidnap me at all" Peach angrily said with her voice trembling because of the cold.

"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, you would be upset if I kidnapped you then even if I do wish to spend Christmas with you. That's why it had to be today. I wanted to see you and give you your present early. The kids also wanted you to be-" He stopped, Peach was leaning against him now with her cheek touching his arm.

Her eyes were close as if trying to absorb the warmth without thinking about where it came from. "Is it ok?"

"What? Kidnapping you? Well if you would willingly come I wouldn't have to" Bowser sad without a single pause as if it was all one big word.

"No I mean... do you mind? You seem uncorfortable" Peach asked again.

He realized what she meant. He had become a little tense when he felt her leaning on him. "Of course it's alright" As if to prove his point he placed his arm around her shoulders pulling her closer.

"I told you not to push your luck" Peach said with a hint of annoyance.

"Sorry just making the best of the occasion" He shifted so she wasn't so close but kept his arm around her. She seemed satisfied enough with that.

"What were you saying before?" Peach asked.

"Before what?" It seems that he was so focused on her he had forgotten.

"About Christmas and the Koopalings?" Peach asked. She was very curious, that she could not deny.

"Yes, they wanted you to be there, they kept asking if 'Mama Peach' would visit soon" Bowser said.

Peach gave it some thought. She had never met the children's mother but from what she heard the queen passed away many years ago. That would mean that most of the koopalings were still very young when it happened with the youngest still a baby. She suddenly felt sorry for them having spent so many Christmas without a mother. She tried to push those thoughts away but simply couldn't. To hear Bowser's children wanted her around was not a thought she could cast aside. Regardless if they were the children of her kidnapper they were still kids and they wanted her there, perhaps even needed her to be there. She sighed. 'Why must I b such a softie? ' "Alright, I'll go and spend some time with the koopalings... But I don't have presents for them this is kind of short notice."

"It's alright, they'll be very happy if they know you actually offered to come. They love being mean but I think they developed a soft stop for you" Bowser said.

"Are they the only ones?" Peach asked smiling. She couldn't stop the comment from escaping.

"You know they're not" Bowser said returning the smile.

The cave didn't feel so uncorfortable after all. Soon the storm would clear and Peach and Bowser would realize that they weren't as far way as they initially thought.

Peach actually enjoyed her stay at the Koopa Castle putting up more decorations and working on Christmas goodies with the koopalings. They kept trying to capture her and Bowser under mistletoe. She couldn't let her guard down for a second but she had to admit their attempts were adorable in their own way. They were in fact so cute that for a brief moment se contemplated the possibility of letting them win if only once.

End of Event 65

Disclaimer, I do not own Peach, Bowser, the Koopalings or any of the Mario game characters. You know what would happen if I did. The plot bunny for Event 65 came because Razzi mentioned snow on live journal and Razzi is the author of Change of Heart, so Bowser, Peach, snow, instant fanfic.


	61. Event 66

I'm still getting things organized, I'll let you know when I post something new.

Vacation

Event 66: A Message from the Heart

Peach wasn't sure how but somehow she found herself surrounded by familiar shades of gray and bright reds. She recognized those stone walls even if they appeared to get further away from her as she looked at them as if the sea of lava surrounding her gray stone island was pushing the walls away expanding the castle instead of shattering it. She was in Bowser's castle but she wasn't sure in what part of his castle. She had never been in that room before and did not remember how she got there. All she knew was what her eyes could tell her.

She was on top of a large stone pillar like a mountain on the lava. The pillar was thick about twenty feet in diameter. There were no signs of a bridge anywhere or a door or anything except the pillar, the sea of lava and the walls in the distance. She looked at the ceiling but saw no ceiling instead clear blue skies. She wasn't sure she was in Bowser's castle anymore yet she felt she was. The large size of that room that kept getting larger was illogical. She had been in his castle many times and a room that big with such a huge pool of lava could not be missed. Perhaps it was new but that still didn't explain the fact that she had no idea how she got there. Maybe she had been kidnapped so many times her memory was playing tricks on her.

She spun around looking at her surroundings, quite unusual in deed. By the time she had spun in a full circle she came face to face with Bowser. She was certain he wasn't standing there before and didn't know how he got there. He should have been the last person she wanted to see or so she told herself but she couldn't help it but to feel safe now that he was around. First she had to ask the question that was stubbornly floating in her mind defying logic. "How did you get here? How did I get here?" There appeared to be no flying machines near by and had he used one she would have heard and seen it.

"Does it matter? All that matters is that you're here now and no one can bother you. No one can judge you or pressure you. No one can try to shape you to be a certain way. You don't have to keep it all locked inside surrounded by a sea of lava that you won't let me cross. It's alright now" Bowser said. He must have been speaking in some kind of metaphor and Peach wasn't sure what he meant. It was as if deep down she had the answer but that answer didn't want to be found or she didn't want to find it.

"What do you mean?" She wanted the confusion to end. She felt as if he could see into her very soul. She felt as if her deepest darkest secret had been revealed before she even knew she had a secret. The skies remained blue and clear, the lava continued to boil and glowing a bright fire red and the gray stone walls that surrounded them continued to get further away in a realistic visual illusion.

"Don't make the ocean of fire bigger, let the stone walls fall. Then everything will be as happy as those clear skies above" Bowser said. Everything was so unreal. He never spoke to her in such a mysterious way. It was like a riddle she had to solve. The answer was right in front of her yet she didn't understand it. He slowly approached and she stood still. It wasn't like she had anywhere to run. He continued coming closer, too close, she backed away. "Don't fall." He extended his hand to her. She was but an inch away from falling into the boiling lava that would surely kill her in an instant. "Your own defenses are too strong, don't give in to your mask of fire or it might hurt you more than the falling walls would have."

Again with the strange speech but she didn't want to fall to her doom so she took his hand and walked to the center of the pillar. "I want to know what this is all about" Peach said.

"You know the answer don't deny it." Bowser came closer and closer by the second. Peach did not move. She felt him surrounding her with his arms and posed no resistance. She closed her eyes and let whatever secrets lay hidden finally surface. She could feel him coming closer, a kiss? Was that what he intended? It's not like she was making any efforts to push him away. She let her walls fall and forgot what she was to think only of who she was. Not Princess toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom. Not the perfect lady who acted how she was told and fallowed the rules that would shape her like in the cookie cutter model of the princesses from ages past. Now she was just Peach, a young woman who had so much to live, so much to experience and so much to...

He licked her face getting her out of her trance. "Bowser?" she surprised to say the least. He licked her cheek again. That wasn't what she expected him to do. "What are you doing?" Again another lick and that time she woke up.

Peach found herself in her room at the Mushroom Castle. On her bed there was a large white dog with brown spots and big wet tongue. He wagged his tail playfully and energetically. The tail was like an antenna with a red circle at the end. It was Yoshi's dog. He was coming to visit today and either she overslept or he arrived extra early with the promise of a delicious breakfast waiting. "Good morning Poochy." She patted the dog's head which made him wag his tail faster and give her another friendly lick.

"Poochy! Where did you run off to Poochy? Don't forget Toad said no running inside the castle!" Yoshi soon arrived searching for his dog.

"We're here!" Peach got up from her bed still wearing her pink pajamas.

"Did he wake you up? I'm sowy. Poochy is sowy too, right?" Yoshi gave his dog a disapproving look. Poochy whined and lay down at Peach's feet his tail not moving anymore. He had a sad expression as if begging for forgiveness.

"It's alright I don't want to waste such a beautiful day sleeping anyway" Peach said. Poochy was full of energy again running circles around her and wagging his tail. "I'll be ready in a moment then we can have the breakfast I promised. Please wait for me at the table."

Yoshi and Poochy nodded energetically with big smiles on their faces. "See you soon Peach, c'mon Poochy!" Yoshi ran off fallowed by his dog. Peach thought she heard one of the Toads say something about no running in the halls. Those two were so energetic and childlike she wouldn't be surprised if one day Yoshi started calling her Mama Peach like the Koopalings did.

With that thought her dream came back into her mind. She tried to figure out the hidden metaphors that her subconscious mind was trying to communicate. Maybe she was too worried about being judged. Maybe she did keep a secret that was hidden so deep it was as if it was trapped in top of a tall pillar in the middle of a sea of boiling lava of denial. The outer walls, the shell of appearances expanded as the sea of lava became wider. But there was still hope for the clear blue skies were still visible and sometimes ever so lightly the secret surfaced. She shook her head, maybe she was overanalyzing things.

Peach stepped into her bathroom to take a quick shower. Maybe then she would be fully awake and the dream would leave her head. She couldn't help it but to wonder how the dream would have ended if Poochy hasn't interfered. She decided not too think about it too much for it only made her cheeks turn red when she remembered the last part of the dream. After brushing her teeth and taking a shower, Peach choose a pink gown to wear. All her dresses looked the same to most people but she could see the slight differences in style they had. She brushed her golden blonde hair and put on her crown. She didn't want to keep Yoshi and Poochy waiting for too long so she hurried to the breakfast table.

As breakfast progressed and Yoshi ate everything that was given to him Peach appeared to be a little lost in thought. She ate slowly, with class, minding her manners as a princess is expected to. Poochy was eating a little messily from his large dog dish in a corner of the dinning room but he didn't eat half as much as Yoshi who wrapped his tongue around the food and swallowed it in one gulp.

After the delicious breakfast which included pancakes for Peach and the entire menu for Yoshi he was as hyper as ever. "Is it time to play now?"

Peach smiled Yoshi could be so adorable. "Yes it's time to play." Inviting him over was definitely a good idea. Yoshi with his childish innocence and energy was refreshing and relaxing to be around. Yet her mind constantly returning to the dream because deep down she knew what it meant and deep down she couldn't deny it. Her fear of being judged, of not living up to the standards that a princess was expected to have, it was all very stressing sometimes and sometimes an escape to the Koopa Castle turned out to be like a vacation.

It turned out like that over time when her duties became more apparent and she started feeling more and more as if all her kingdom's eyes were constantly on her. Yet at the same time she felt that even if she was full of energy after her break from her royal duties, after returning from the Koopa Castle, she feared she was letting everyone down by always getting kidnapped and needing to be rescued. She continued lost in thought as a tennis ball flew over her head and hit the ground behind her. She didn't even notice.

"Peach is something wrong?" Yoshi asked. His big innocent eyes showed worry.

Peach snapped out of her thoughts. "Everything is fine I was just a little distracted. You can serve now."

"I already did. The ball is over there." He pointed at the tennis ball sitting on the ground behind her. When did that fly by? She didn't even notice. "I guess I was more distracted than I thought. Sorry about that, it's still a point for you." She picked up the tennis ball.

Yoshi approached. "What's wrong? You can tell me I'm good at cheering people up."

Peach sighted. "It's just pressure. The pressure to be the way a princess should be."

"You're a good princess and a good friend" Yoshi said.

"Thank you" Peach smiled, he really was good a cheering people up. In the background she could see Toad playing fetch with Poochy. "I will enjoy the cheerful times like this."

"Why not always be cheerful?" Yoshi asked. She had a castle to play in and lot of friends so he didn't understand why she would be sad.

"What if you had a friend and your other friends didn't like that one friend. What if you felt afraid that your group of friends would be upset because you have a new friend?" Peach asked. She made it sound a lot simpler than it was.

"The more friends we have the better!" Yoshi cheerfully said. "Who is your new friend Peach?"

"It was just an example" Peach said. She didn't want to take the conversation further and complicate things.

Yoshi nodded. "Ok but if you think you can be friends then you should be friends. You should tell your other friends about your new friend. Tell them why it's good for all of you to be friends. They trust you so they'll believe you and soon they'll accept your new friend too."

Peach smiled. "Thanks I'll remember your advice and... try to help my friends understand each other..."

Yoshi nodded. "Peach... It doesn't matter who your new friend is I'll still be your friend and I'll be friends with your new friend too."

"I know you will. I feel better now. I guess everyone should be given a chance right?" Peach said.

"Right" Yoshi agreed. "And koopas too. Let's start the game over and this time you serve."

As Yoshi took his position at the other side of the tennis court Peach couldn't help it but to take a moment to think about his words and smile. 'Yoshi, you're smarter than you're given credit for.'

End of Event 66

Disclaimer, I don't own Super Mario.


	62. Event 67

Nothing new here, just organizing my one shots into collections. Visit my blog for the latest news on the progress.

Vacation

Event 67: Serenade

That night a few screams and calls of alarm were heard, followed by the sounds of the Toad guards panicking. Princess Peach had gotten ready to go to bed but she certainly couldn't ignore what was going on. She rushed to the balcony to satisfy her curiosity.

The scene she saw in the yard below was very amusing. The koopalings were dragging Bowser along while hugged a stone pillar. The pillar looked as if it had been ripped off his castle as the last option to making him move. She couldn't help it but to laugh, imagining all the events that must have taken place at the Koopa Castle for the current scenario to be possible.

She wondered what sort of song Ludwig had composed this time and how well Bowser would interpret it. She had no fear of being kidnapped on this special occasion. This time Bowser looked like he couldn't wait to run away, but his kids were doing a pretty good job of dragging him across the yard in towards her balcony to help him overcome his stage fright and sing once again, because they just had to witness the serenade.

End of Event 67

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. 


	63. Event 68

Surprise! This drabble is new! It was inspired by Razzi's reply to my review for Change of Heart Chapter 38. I also included part of a quote from the reply so major credits to Razzi! This is easier to understand if you read her story. Oh yeah, and I also don't own Mario.

Vacation

Event 68: Chest Hair

By a twist of fate, a book previously used by several koopalings, ended up laying in the hall. That was not strange at all, since the koopalings tended to leave things laying around here and there. Nevertheless, the notes scribbled on the pages were very amusing.

A group of tourists was being led around the castle, all for the sake of showing the good will of the Koopa Kingdom by welcoming the few humans who lived in that world. Hopefully, that would earn Bowser some extra brownie points with Peach.

The book was picked up by a curious girl who read the notes scribbled on the pages, while ignoring the actual text of the book, just like she used to do when she was in school. The notes were funny and had to be shared with another girl from the tour. "I promise I'm not trying to distract you with this so I can run off to stalk Ludwig, just read it."

Staying alert just in case, the other girl read the notes and laughed. "A koopa with chest hair would certainly be a sight to see!"

While the two humans joked about the impossibility that somehow emerged from the misspelling of the name 'Chestnut' as 'Chesthair' on the book's notes, Bowser was quietly listening. He didn't wish to appear in front of the group to be tacked by their questions and assaulted by their cameras. Yet the Koopa King couldn't waste the opportunity to observe human behavior and gain more insight into it. As it often happens, eavesdroppers get the wrong idea. 'So humans girls like koopas with chest hair...' Bowser mused from his hiding place behind a gigantic gray stone statue of himself.

He didn't remember ever hearing about Ludwig having chest hair, yet the boy was stalked by fan girls of several races, humans included. Bowser shrugged and decided not to overanalyze the situation, it was clear that human girls liked koopas with chest hair, it was their secret which they would only reveal to other girls. In fact, Peach could secretly be complaining to Daisy about Bowser's lack of chest hair at that very moment. Bowser couldn't allow his princess to think he was lacking in anything, chest hair included. He was Bowser, he was awesome and anatomy aside, he would grow chest hair if it was the last thing he did.

xoxox xox xoxox

Bowser could go to Kamek and ask for chest hair to be granted by magic, but that would be too easy and Bowser was not taking the easy way out, especially on such a serious matter. He would grow chest hair by his own strength. Thus Bowser locked himself in his private gym and exercised intensely, paying extra attention to the pectoral muscles.

xoxox xox xoxox

A few days later, Peach came to visit and found Bowser extremely sore and tired from the workout routine he had been doing. They could do nothing more than cuddle since he overdid his exercises and could barely move.

Bowser was disappointed in himself, he wanted to prove he was tough enough to grow chest hair and there he was, being a marshmallow in front of Peach.

"Were you working out?" She noticed.

The question woke Bowser from his thoughts, "yeah..."

"Is that where all your energy went? Don't over do it, okay?"

"I can take it, I'm going to work out until I grow chest hair!"

Peach's clear laughter run out, "a koopa with chest hair? That would be odd. Don't strain yourself too much; I don't like chest hair anyway."

Bowser was going to say something, but he completely forgot what it was when Peach comfortably snuggled against his hairless chest.

End of Event 68 


	64. Event 69

Yet another BowserxPeach mini-drabble inspired by Razzi's blog.

Vacation

Event 69: Everlasting

The last time Bowser talked Peach into extending her visit at his castle, he accomplished it by bribing her with ice-cream. However, the ice-cream was far too large for the princess to finish eating, considering that it was as tall as her.

This time around, Bowser was trying to make use of the same strategy, but Peach wouldn't agree to stay until she finished her ice-cream. She knew she would never be able to eat all that ice-cream and as much as she wanted to stay, she had royal duties to return to.

"I'll stay until I finish my ice-cream, or until it melts, which ever comes first," Peach offered.

Bowser agreed, "okay, let's go get the ice-cream then."

"Isn't the kitchen that way?" This was Bowser's castle, but Peach had come to know her way around very well.

"Yeah, but the warp pipe to Iceland is this way."

End of Event 69

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. 


	65. Event 70

Another old story that I recently corrected. Not much of a BxP, but it does have the beginnings of a hint of BxP. Mostly about Peach and Larry.

Event 70: It's a Start

The soft afternoon breeze played with Peach's long blond hair as she walked around the park. She was currently near the playground, watching the little mushroom children run about, laughing and having fun. She loved going for a walk around her kingdom as often as she could. It was so calming and peaceful on days like this.

The sounds of frightened children got her out of her thoughts as a small group of kids ran towards her. One child stayed up on a slide, looking down from there with no intentions of going down any time soon, while another two climbed to the top of the jungle gym and stayed there, watching the same thing the boy on the slide was watching.

Being the nearest familiar adult and a royal no less, Peach must have represented protection for them, as all the kids immediately ran to her, save for those who stayed up on the slide and jungle gym. "Princess Peach! Princess Peach!" A little girl called frightened.

"What is it?" Peach kneeled down on the glass and waited for the girl to continue.

"A koopa, there's a koopa!" The little girl pointed in the direction where the kids up on the slide and jungle gym were looking.

Surely a koopa couldn't be enough to scare them. Koopas came and went from the kingdom all the time and her people knew that not all koopas were bad. "Show me."

"This way!" "Over there!" The children called as they led the princess to where they saw the koopa that gave them a scare. When they approached, they hid behind her.

Peach saw the reason why they had been scared. This wasn't just any koopa. He had spiky blue hair and spikes on his green shell. But surely what really scared the kids was the large chainchop beside him. The boy held the end of the chainchop's chain while he sat on the glass. "Hello."

"Mama Peach!" The koopa boy spoke.

"Did you come here to play?" Peach asked. The little koopa was only a child so she didn't think he represented any danger.

"Yes, I was bored and my siblings didn't want to play with me. I was playing with my chainchop but he ran away chasing a Toad. I thought it was funny. I followed him here and then came to play in the park," the koopaling explained.

"If you let your pet chainchop chase people, they won't want to play with you. Then you won't have anyone else to play with when your siblings are busy. Can you play nicely without causing trouble?" Peach asked.

The boy nodded. He appeared quite surprised that she was talking to him so naturally. "Yes." As much fun as it would be to watch his chainchop chase those kids instead of playing with them, he decided that it was not the time for that.

"Alright then, you can stay in the park and play." Peach glanced at the mushroom children who still looked frightened. It looked like it was up to the princess to set the example. "What's your name?"

"Larry," the koopaling voiced.

"It's nice to meet you Larry, as you know I'm Peach. Now how about we go play," she paused. He would probably scratch the slide with the spikes on his shell making sliding a bit difficult. Playing catch with a chain chop would make them end up with without a ball. Then she spotted the merry go round. It was the kind they have in parks without horses some called it the spinning wheel. Children would make it spin while others rode it and then hop in themselves, holding on to the bars. "Over there."

Larry, still a bit surprised that Peach was willing to play with him, agreed. "Sounds fun." He tied the chainchop's chain to one of the bars while Peach and a few brave mushroom kids climbed in. Larry climbed in next to Peach and signaled for the chainchop to start running. The chainchop ran in circles, giving everyone quite the ride. They all held on to the bars, feeling the wind as the park spun around in their view.

"There he is!" A voice was heard.

"Larry, tell the chainchop to stop!" Peach called. Larry gave the order and the chainchop stopped. The marry go round continued spinning from the impulse it had, pulling the chainchop around with it a few times before finally coming to a stop. Peach jumped off and approached the alarmed group of mushroom people. "Is there a problem?"

"Princess, that koopa's chain chop tried to eat someone. I saw it!" A man angrily accused.

"He wasn't going to eat him just chew on him," Larry was amused as if it made a world of different. Either way, no ordinary mushroom person could survive being a chain chop's chew toy.

"Calm down everyone. Larry means us no harm," Peach spoke loud enough for everyone in the small crowd of people that gathered around them to hear. "I, princess Peach Toadstool, give you my word." The crowd was filled with gasps and faces of shock and surprise upon hearing her words. "That incident will not occur again or Larry will no longer be allowed to bring his chainchop to play in the park." She glanced at Larry.

"Princess with all due respect, not allowing that monster back into the kingdom would not make up for the damage already done." A very angry looking mushroom woman spoke. "That was my younger brother that thing was chasing."

Peach wasn't sure if both 'monster' and 'thing' were to refer to the chainchop or if only 'thing' was and the other was aimed at Larry. Either way, the crowd was in an uproar. Surely her father would know how to calm them. This never happened when he spoke to his people. "Everyone listen! This will not happen again!"

An elderly man made his way to the front of the crowd. "You gave us your word your highness. Do you know what that means? You are making yourself responsible for the boy's actions, actions that you have no control over."

They doubted her ability to lead the kingdom, she knew it. Maybe she was too kind natured after all. She felt like crying listening to the murmurs of the crown surely talking about what a bad princess she made and wishing she never became queen. "Please... just listen." She spoke so quietly that her voice was lost in the whispers of the crowd.

"Stop it!" Larry yelled. All heads turned forward and all eyes were on him. "Peach is nice, she's good to me just like dad said she would be. That's why... that's why..." He trailed off. He was saying too much. He and his siblings had their doubts that their father should continue insisting on kidnapping Peach. She wasn't exactly happy in the castle and that's not the image of a mother they had, even if some of them like Larry never knew what having a mother was like. Ludwig, being the oldest, was the one who remembered her best and even his memories were a blur due to his young age when she died. "I'm leaving," Larry announced. "Come on Cheatsy!" The chainchop rushed to his side and eyed the mushroom people, who shivered in fright. "Sorry, you can't chew them," Larry petted the chainchop. "I'll find a chew toy for you later."

The koopaling and his chainchop approached the crowd who quickly parted to let them pass, eager to watch them leave and never return. "Wait!" Peach called. She was tired of having everyone stand up for her when she should be able to stand up for herself. Now even a little boy had to stand up for her. "Larry, you are welcome to stay. Everyone should follow the rules and respect others. It is both your duty and your right as it is for everyone. I, Peach Toadstool, as princess of the Mushroom Kingdom, peacefully invite you to join us."

The crowd wasn't happy with her words. "This is too much!" "We'll have to take the matter to the king!" "Yes, the king will help us!" People in the crowd shouted.

Larry was not one to care about those weak annoying mushroom people, but Peach was different from her kingdom's people. "I accept your invitation," Larry glared over at the crowd, grinning in amusement at their frustration. 'Way to put your foot down mama Peach,' he thought.

"Thank you Larry, I'm happy you decided to stay." Peach knew she didn't have to worry about the koopa boy's safety, since she knew the people wouldn't try anything, and the boy although very young, would easily overpower them anyway. She only had to make sure he kept his word so she could keep hers. Her heart skipped a beat as she thought about what she said. She had given her people her word and the word of a princess is not to be taken lightly. She felt a little scared thinking about it, but at the same time confident and happy that she stood up for herself. The crowd continued complaining and discussing the matter among themselves. More people joined in after hearing the commotion and Peach started to fear a riot. Once again she faced the crowd. "You do have a point, this matter should be taken to the king. I am certain my father would be very disappointed at your behavior towards my guest. We must remember to always treat others with respect."

That did the trick and the crowd quieted and dispersed. They knew the king was a firm believer that not all koopas were bad and that sometimes a less than warm welcome was the cause for hostility. It appeared that no one was willing to put their word against the word of a princess before her father without solid proof, so no one argued back. However, the park soon became empty, as parents did not want their children to be in a place that could become dangerous.

Peach wanted to be welcoming to Larry and make up for his recent bad experience, but she didn't want to make her people feel scared. She remembered her place as a princess and the fact that it was her duty to put her people first. She solved the dilemma finding a convenient happy medium. "Let's go play in my playground at the castle, okay Larry?" Peach smiled. In the castle grounds no one would fear and no one would be upset. She trusted the staff of the castle to be much more accepting of none-mushroom people, since they tended to guests from far away places all the time.

"It's getting kind of late," Larry looked at the sky. The sun would be setting by the time he got back to the Koopa castle, even if he took all the warp pipes and shortcuts he knew. "Can I come back tomorrow and can I invite my siblings?"

"Of course you can," Peach replied.

"Okay, then we'll be here tomorrow! How does two in the afternoon sound?" Larry asked.

"That sounds great, I'll be waiting for you with some yummy afternoon snacks," Peach agreed.

Larry's smile widened. "I can't wait, see you tomorrow!" He waved goodbye and took his chainchop's chain as they walked out of Toad Town, towards a warp pipe just outside of the city. Peach stood there, looking after him until he was out of sight, then she cheerfully headed back home. She needed to have a word with her father.

xoxox xox xoxox

Larry hurried back home to Bowser's castle. For most of the trip, when he wasn't inside a pipe, he was running as fast as his legs would carry him, pulling his chainchop long. The chainchop had a bit of trouble keeping up, his young master was running a lot faster than ever before. It confused the chainchop, since they weren't really running away from anything or towards something unusual. He did his best to follow Larry and not slow him down. Nearly out of breath, the young blue haired koopa reached the entrance to the Koopa castle grounds.

Taking only a few seconds to get some oxygen into his thirsty lungs, Larry resumed his running, this time not as impatient as before. A few steps away from the main door on the bridge he realized that he still held the chain chop's chain and released it. "Go on now Cheatsy, I'm sure your dinner was served a little while ago." The chainchop happily hopped off. The castle grounds were quite large, allowing plenty of space for the koopalings' pet chainchops to run and play. There were koopa troopas assigned to feeding them, sparing the koopalings from having to do 'pet chores', save for taking the chain chops for walks, but that was fun so they didn't mind. Around the castle there was a river of lava, a large stone bridge served to cross it.

Excited about the news he had for his brothers and sister, Larry ran inside. He bumped into a few koopa troopas along the way. They quickly apologized while wondering why the youngest prince was in such a hurry, other than being very late for dinner. He sometimes stayed out playing and was often late, but there was something different about his haste this time. Nearly tripping over a goomba, Larry reached the dinning room where his brothers, sister and father were half finished with their dinner. Bowser didn't look too happy. "Sorry I'm late?" Though it was an excuse, it came out sounding like a question.

"You need to stop being late." Something in his father's voice hinted to Larry that this was not only about him being late. Not wasting any time, Bowser ignored his half finished food and went straight to the point while Larry sat down. Bowser was sitting at one end of the rectangular table. On the side to his left were Morton, Iggy and Roy. To Bowser's right were Ludwig, Lemmy, Wendy then Larry. "I know where you went today."

Larry stared at Bowser. The table grew silent as his siblings paused eating their meals and watched. "I... um..." He couldn't quite find the right words to express something that reassembled a more or less good excuse.

"Ludwig said you went with him to Tadpole Pond to find some famous composer named Toadofsky or something like that. He's challenging him to a composing competition. I much prefer Toads to be burned, fed to the chainchops or otherwise disposed of immediately, but I suppose proving koopas are better is alright." Bowser paused as Larry took a moment to glance at his older brother. He would have to thank him later and ask him why he did this.

Chef Torte entered the dining room with Larry's food after taking a moment to heat it up when he returned. He served the meal at the table in front of Larry and quickly left after glancing at everyone else's plates. He shook his head at his apprentice who stood at the door, indicating that nothing else was needed for now. They still had plenty to drink in their glasses and were not yet finished with dinner, so dessert wouldn't be brought in yet.

"What I cannot understand," Bowser continued. "Is why you insisted on staying there to play with your chainchop a little longer after Ludwig came home. You should have returned with him. Not only were you late, but you were outside of Darkland territory by yourself, other than the chainchop. Never do this again." He stressed the last four words, making a small pause after each one. "Understood?"

Larry nodded. "Yes, father. I won't be late for dinner anymore or go outside of Darkland territory alone." It would seem he was off the hook as Bowser did not say anything else, instead resumed eating his dinner. The regular noises of plates and silverware continued being heard in the dinning room, as everyone else, including Larry, also turned their attention towards dinner.

Roy stabbed a piece of barbequed meet hard with his fork, sending a bit of sauce flying towards the table next to Wendy, who was sitting across from him. "Roy, you eat like a pig!"

"Shut up, I'll eat however I want," Roy continued stuffing the meat into his mouth, against his better judgment that told him to cut it into smaller pieces.

"If you insist con continuing such behaviors, one day you may suffocate," Ludwig quietly commented, more to himself than anyone else, but the comment was heard by Roy.

"Wanna make something of it?" Roy was ready to pick a fight with his brother, although Ludwig was his least favorite brother to fight with. He preferred to pick on Lemmy, he couldn't breathe fire yet.

"Quiet! Everything was fine until Larry got here and obviously he didn't start the argument. Were you waiting for him so he wouldn't miss the show?" One day, if only they would let him have a peaceful meal for one day. He was starting to think it was impossible. For as long Bowser remembered, the koopalings never finished a meal whether breakfast, lunch or dinner, without getting into at least one argument.

"She started it!" Roy pointed an accusing finger at is sister.

"You're the one who's eating like a pig!" Wendy pointed at the barbecue sauce stain on the white table cloth.

"Let's just end it there and eat in peace," Browser was at the end of his patience. Sometimes dealing with seven hyper kids could be very hard. Dinner continued without little more incident than a few glares and Larry nearly choking as he tried to keep up to finish dinner at the same time as his siblings.

When it was time for dessert, Chef Torte and his apprentice brought a very nice looking cake. Bowser eyed the cake suspiciously. "It's not alive is it?"

"No, your highnez ze cake is perfectly normal!" Chef Torte replied.

"Zis time we got ze recipe right!" His apprentice added.

Morton was about to open his mouth to speak, but Bowser looked at him warningly and the koopaling closed his mouth again. Until he learned not to be such a chatterbox, it was forbidden for him to say more than yes and no while at the table. That is nodding or shaking his head.

"A living cake?" Iggy voiced the question in everyone's mind.

"It happened while you were away at boarding school, long story." Clearly, Bowser wasn't in the mood to tell that story, so no one asked about it. The cake was cut and served, proving that it was in fact a normal cake and Bowser and the koopalings ate dessert.

xoxox xox xoxox

After dinner was over, the koopalings continued with their normal activities. Iggy returned to his room to work on an odd machine he was building that would most likely blow up. Ludwig went to his room to finish writing the melody he was working on. Lemmy and Morton were playing video games in the arcade room. Wendy was trying on different bows in her room, all of them pink to match her shell with different designs. She still liked the pink one with the white dots best. Roy was watching TV.

Larry headed to Ludwig's room. "Ludwig!"

"You may enter," answered Ludwig's voice from inside. "I theorized that you would come."

"I have feeling you know more than you're letting on," Larry went straight to the point.

"Yes, but you are withholding information as well. What was your intention this afternoon?" Ludwig placed his pen on the desk next to the musical sheet with the unfinished song and turned his chair around to face another chair, anticipating this would be a long conversation.

Taking the hint, Larry sat down. "I was playing with my chainchop, Cheatsy just outside the Mushroom Kingdom territory in the neutral portion of land. Cheatsy saw a Toad and started chasing him. I thought it was funny and followed. I guess I lost track of how far I went because we ended up chasing him all the way to Toad Town. He rushed into a house so we couldn't chase him anymore. The Toads that were in the area ran away so I decided to look round and got to a park. It looked like a fun place and I wanted to play with Cheatsy there. There were some mushroom kids in the park who ran away. I didn't pay attention to them. I just sat down in the grass to rest from all that running and then mama Peach came to talk to me, and she stood up for me. She said I could comeback tomorrow afternoon and that I could invite my siblings. Ludwig, she's welcoming us to her castle!" Larry was clearly happy and exited about it. It was a start and if things went well, there was a lot that could change for the better.

End of Event 70

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario. 


	66. Key

My computer was having a middle age crisis (3 years is middle aged in tech years) so I was busy fixing it and couldn't get this written on time. On the bright side, I don't need to wait or pay for service since I do the repairs myself.

Without further ado... happy birthday Change of Heart! Congratulations on working on the story for 4 years Razzi, many people stop writing after so long but you have kept on working on the story and I know it will be finished someday. When the time comes, I hope you start another one, because it just wouldn't be the same without reading your monthly updates.

Vacation

Event 71: Key

"I just thought of something," when Daisy spoke those words, one had to be prepared for something completely random. "For the past four years, you ve been getting kidnapped at least once a month, but Toadsworth still freaks out every time."

"Hmm... yes..."

The fact that Peach was distracted didn't escape Daisy's attention. "You don't look like you're all there and why do you keep patting your stomach? Did something happen?"

"Well..."

"Tell me all about it!"

They sat on Peach's bed, like two girls in a sleepover, telling each other secrets. "I was at Bowser's castle and he said he had something for me, it was a golden key. I asked if he was going to lock me in the dungeon, but I was only joking, then he said he was, but he was just kidding too. I took away the key and told him he couldn't lock me up without it, so he started to chase me around to get it back..."

Daisy's already great interest grew even more, "you were playing flirt tag!"

Peach quickly shook her head, "no, no, just normal keep away. Anyway, I tripped, he caught me and it all happened so fast..." She patted her abdomen again, poking it as if there was something there that shouldn't be there.

"Oh my goodness, you're pregnant!" Daisy exclaimed.

"No!" Peach vigorously shook her head as her face turned scarlet. "The key; I swallowed the key!"

"Why did you do that?"

"By accident, when I tripped I accidentally tossed the key into the air as I fell. Bowser caught me, but I was laughing so hard I kind of threw my head back and my mouth was open when the key came down. We were going to have Kamek take it out with magic, but Mario arrived and in the end I came back with the key still in my stomach," Peach explained. "I think Bowser will probably come get me again soon so Kamek can take the key out."

"Wow, so what was the key really for if the dungeon thing was just a joke?"

"I don't know..."

xoxox xox xoxox

In an elegantly decorated room that wasn't used for the occasion after all, there was a gold-lined pink treasure chest. It was a gift that would have to be opened another time, containing his most precious memories like a key to his heart.

End of Event 71

Disclaimer, I don't own Mario.


	67. Cake Love

Vacation

Event 72: Love Cake

Bowser had heard it being said many times before, that food tastes better when it's made with love. He had no doubts about it, Peach was awesome in the kitchen (and anywhere else), but there was more than culinary skill in the food she made. Every time she baked a cake for him, he was certain that it tasted better than the last, even if the recipe was supposed to be the same.

In an effort to show his beloved Peachy his love, Bowser tried to bake a cake for her, after all, she was always doing that for him. He was certain that the cake would be the most delicious thing ever, due to the great amount of love he put in it.

He read over the little blue cook book, the words "Sakuro's Kitchen: Baking Edition" were written in silver on the cover. The blacksmith swordsman chef who wrote the book always reminded the reader that the final and most important ingredient was love. When Bowser first saw Wendy with the book, experimenting in the kitchen after a few lessons from Peach, he didn't quite understand how anyone could add love, an intangible emotion, to food, but it must be true.

After following the recipe to the best of his inexperienced ability, Bowser placed the cake mix in the oven with a lot of love. "I love you Peach, I love you cake," he blew a kiss and closed the oven. Then he quickly looked over his shoulder, feeling the presence of someone else.

Peach quietly approached with a big grin on her face. "Are you baking a cake for me?" Bowser could only nod after being caught, a wide smile formed on his face at the sight of Peach. "Aw, how sweet!" She approached to kiss him, but the oven blew up before she could, sending the cake mix flying all over the kitchen and the couple.

"That wasn't supposed to happen," Bowser made a cute pout. "I made the cake with love, how could it explode?"

"Maybe you put so much love in it, it expanded too much," Peach giggled, "well, it fits, you do have an explosive kind of love," she kissed him, tasting the sweet cake mix on his lips. "You taste so good I think I'm going to kidnap you," she grinned, if he was baking cakes she might as well steal him away on vacation.

End of Event 72

Happy Birthday Razzi! :D Sakuro is my favorite character from Summon Night: Swordcraft Story. In the game he really likes curry and mentions that it's important to add love to the food. Disclaimer, I don't own Super Mario or Summon Night. 


	68. Event 73

Vacation

Event 73: The Perfect Moment

Was there such a thing as the perfect moment? Or was that something that could only be obtained if one created it, rather than waiting for it?

Peach shifted uncomfortably, waiting to seize the moment, but the moment didn't come. It had been like that all day for her and Bowser knew something was up. She wanted to reciprocate his feelings in a special moment, but instead of coming up with a plan, she ended up getting distracted thinking about it and the proper time and place for the confession would evaporate from her mind until the words themselves disappeared and all that was left was a turmoil of feelings that she knew not how to express.

Peach's emotional overload was not missed by Bowser, though he didn't know exactly what it was about. He decided to ask Peach about it, encouraging her to tell him anything and share her thoughts. Peach came close to blurting out her confession, but thought the moment wasn't proper. Maybe she should wait for the sunset or maybe it should be spoken under the stars, perhaps in a hopeful morning or a calm afternoon, in the privacy of the castle or out on a picnic.

Seeing Bowser's curious gaze on her, before she slipped and let the words flow out like an unstoppable flood, Peach decided that a distraction was in order. "Let's play pickle ball!" She knew that Bowser would grant her request, as he granted all her wishes.

Soon she found herself in the court, in her pink sports outfit, running over a pink mushroom after the ball. She kept hitting it back to Bowser and he would return it. Lost in her emotions and a tad frustrated by her ever changing plan for a perfect confession, which refused to clearly define itself in her mind, Peach hit the ball harder and harder each time.

She focused on her feelings, on the words, on the setting. She followed the ball and hit it back towards Bowser. Her face was of concentration, forcing her mind to hold on to the words, the place and the time, not giving in to the abstract warmth of loving and being loved.

"Peach, you're playing kind of aggressively today," Bowser observed as he returned the ball to her side of the court.

Peach had enough. She no longer cared about the time the place, the setting, the atmosphere or even the phrasing of her confession. If she didn't speak her feelings immediately she was sure she would explode. As her racket came into contact with the ball in a mighty swing that broke it and ignited the ball, she bellowed, "I love you!"

Bowser stood frozen; his own racket falling from his limp claw as the ball harshly collided with his face. The sphere carried such a force that Bowser was knocked out instantly, falling unconscious with a blissful expression on his face.

Peach gasped, dropped the remains of her racket handle and rushed to his side, stumbling on her words to apologize. She went on her knees and lifted Bowser's head to rest on her lap.

With a rather obvious tender circular spot right on the nose, which made him sound kind of funny, Bowser replied with a pained but blissful smile, "I know."

End of Event 73

Disclaimer, the cast of the Mario games belongs to Nintendo. Event 73 was based on Razzi's Change of Heart. :) 


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